Today we’d like to introduce you to Abdul Mazid.
Abdul, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
My interest in art began at a very young age. My parents are both immigrants (from Mexico and Syria) to the United States, and as such I was exposed to multiple languages, unique cultural and religious traditions in the household early on. Many of these traditions were similar, but were also very nuanced and in some cases conflicting. These experiences were incredibly formative and led to a hyper awareness of sorts that I still possess.
As I was growing up, my father was an architect and would bring home rolls of paper and pencils to work at home. I would always find a way to get my hands on these materials and would marvel at the intricate nature of the blue prints for skyscrapers and hotels he would painstakingly plot out and draw by hand. It was this early exposure to detailed draftsmanship that led to my interest in drawing.
Drawing offered me my own world, separate from the mandates of my parents’ traditions. It became a place to explore my interests, possibilities and daydreams in a way that was visually tangible. I would draw constantly until about junior high where my interests turned towards athletics and my time drawing waned.
It wasn’t until after September 11th 2001 that my interest in art making was rekindled. Having to endure stereotypes, bullying, alienation and outright hatred, pulled me back into a space where I needed to understand and imagine new possibilities. I enrolled in my first life drawing class in 2006 at Santa Monica College and sheepishly dropped out on the second day after a brutally honest critique. A semester later I started with a fundamental drawing class and the rest was history.
The journey to where I am today was by no means a straight line. I endured quite a bit of personal and family adversity along the way, but I have to say that I’ve had some incredible, life-changing mentors throughout the last 11 years who have fostered my interests and provided guidance and insight when needed. I would not have gotten to where I am today without each of them along the way.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I work across a wide range of media – sculpture, drawing, video, installation, and painting – as a means to explore the underlying complexities of my own hybrid-identity. I have a degree in economics in addition to my MFA, so my process is very heavily research driven. I typically begin by dissecting personal experiences then project them into a macro conversation. This can be a very convoluted process where I create systems and limitations within my process that are then tested and pushed.
I think it is important for my work to exist without a wall text telling the viewer what to think or feel. As important as theory and art history are to my process, I don’t need to specifically reference another artist or movement. I believe that once the work leaves my studio, it is no longer mine to control and that the work should have its own essence.
My hope is that my artwork can act as a bridge between ideological differences. We are currently living in a world of extremes and my hope is to remind the viewer that we are 99% the same.
Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
I have two pieces of advice for other artists.
1) Know that you will have to make sacrifices along the way. Some will seem larger than others. Keep your goals in mind and trust in your abilities.
2) Don’t let anyone talk you out of your ideas. No matter how great or how small.
Trust your instincts 90% of the time. Deep down, you know what’s right for you.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I have a couple group shows coming up this year, then my second solo show at Shoshana Wayne Gallery’s new space in West Adams coming up in the Spring of 2019.
You can see most of my work (although I haven’t updated this in a year) on my website: abdulmazid.com or my newer stuff on IG: @abdulmazid_
Contact Info:
- Website: abdulmazid.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: abdulmazid_
- Facebook: facebook.com/abdul.mazid
- Twitter: @_AbdulMazid
Image Credit:
Shoshana Wayne Gallery
Dani Dodge (image of artist)
Brian Jones
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