Zoology, excel sheets, and drawing outside the lines: Artist Asma Kazi’s journey from a corporate slave to a free artist

Written by Artist Asma Kazi

I was good with the arts while in school.  I taught myself to draw some more while graduating, in Zoology class.  My journals were the best in class. Loved the journals, was miserable about everything else in the confusing haze of the three years that was graduation. That was also the last time for a very long time that I drew with an almost religious regularity.  I hoarded on some more educational qualifications, and began a journey to make a place for myself in grounds considered hallowed at that time – the corporate world. Went on to work for a Fortune 10 organization, and then one more. Analyzed and strategized, number crunched, got a green belt, sold real estate in a period spanning almost a decade, of what looks like a dull gray now.

“And then I quit it all.  For color, canvas and my sketching pad.” I like the sound of that, but I didn’t really know then where I was headed.

Kaleidodrama is a view of my enchanted world. One of connecting the dots, reconnecting them. Mixed hues. Painted walls. Monochrome. Tall stories. Flawed ones. Lopsided and Loud ones. Colored. Charmed. Stories to stay. I am fascinated by the concept of order in chaos. When painting, I work with a mix of textures and patterns, bringing together what one may consider to be abstract elements, or noise, into a state of cohesiveness. My work is a combination of figurative and abstract in varying styles.  While I love dipping into color, I equally enjoy creating pen drawings and clean, no drips art, digitally.  I prefer my art to be unstructured and most times paint or draw without a clear idea or plan, letting the spontaneity of the brush stroke & pen to take over. It’s like a trip to the unknown, an adventure that always brings to the canvas a wonderful surprise.

Scarlet (20x30 in) Mixed Media on Paper

A bird in hand (20x30 in) Mixed Media on Paper

Flower Power (20x30 in) Acrylic on Paper

Las Cometas (20x30 in) Acrylic on Paper

Maelstorm (24x30 in) Mixed media on canvas

Punk Rocker ( 18x20 in) Mixed Media on Canvas Board

PNI008,FishBowl

PNI005,La pavo real de strut

PNI004,Tangled

Check out Kaleidodrama to learn more about the project and the artist’s paintings.