Today we’d like to introduce you to Malikah Tamirah
Hi Malikah, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I got into creating at a very young age. In elementary school when the weekend would come or any holiday break, my mother would take me and my siblings to my grandfather Ahad’s house. My grandfather was an artist himself, he worked with many different mediums including oil paints, charcoal, pastels, and more. His work fascinated me and younger me wanted to copy him in a way. I have this memory of me drawing out the “No David No” book in kindergarten, then giving it to him. He was so happy and had it on his fridge for years. I also have another memory from first grade when I was in class working on this colorful drawing with crayons and markers, my teacher Mrs. Bonner was so impressed by me that she showed my drawing to the whole class. After that moment I just started drawing for fun. I had a lot of scholastic note books that I would would draw in everyday, I drew from my brain, tv shows, or books I liked mostly. I was so big on the “how to draw” YouTube videos where I would try to draw anyone or anything that interested me. I have a memory from 3rd grade when my teacher Ms. Douberley would ask us what we wanted to be when we grow up and I said an artist. It’s like I always knew what I wanted to do. 3rd grade is when I started to make my own books. I love reading and learning things, at the time I was creating a Sonic book based on a game I played everyday, a Solor System book, and a book based on different tribes and cultures. I showed my grandfather these things and he told me to put my name, date under each drawing and to keep everything in a folder. I was in 4th grade when he passed away. Before he passed I remember the last art piece he was creating, a portrait of Barack Obama. In 5th grade I continued to draw, even was in art club but when I started middle school my creating slowed down. Middle school was when things got a little hard for me and my whole 3 years there I wasn’t able to take art class not once. I still did it for fun but when I got in 8th grade I discovered Blick and got my first set of Faber Castell graphite pencils, white gel pen, and an eraser. At the time I discovered apps like we heart it, Tumblr, and Pinterest where I would just draw images that I thought were interesting, which would evolve me a little bit. When I started high school I was still drawing and ended up getting my same art teacher from elementary school, Mr Hoyman. I had him for AP art, from there my drawings got better. My last year of high school I was taking early college classes and wasn’t really drawing at all. That time of my life a lot was happening then covid hit which put us out of school for the rest of the year. My limited mindset at the time was telling me to be realistic so I went to Georgia Southern for Civil Engineering. That year I went through so much, the major wasn’t really something I wanted to do and I couldn’t take any art electives. I didn’t creative anything the whole year of 2020. Year 2021, I was going through an awakening moment of my life so I started to get motivated to draw for fun again. I was on the internet looking up “How can I get my drawings displayed in Savannah” and the first thing I seen was “SCAD students display ….”, so in my head I was like maybe I should apply for SCAD but at the time it was just an idea. I would be listening to motivational videos everyday and in one of the videos he was explaining how J Cole only went to school in New York to get connected to Jay Z, so in my head I was thinking I should go to SCAD to get more connected to the arts, even with my lack of knowledge about art in general. I got into SCAD fall of 2021, this is when I started to learn about myself more. I remember my first class seeing easels everywhere, I was so shocked because I never used one before so it was something I was willing to get use to. After my first day I literally went to Blick and brought my own easel for home. Fast Forward to fall of 2022, is when I got into my major classes taking Water base with Greg Eltringham. Mostly drawing and never really painting before I tried to apply myself as much as I could in that class. I remember Greg telling me “Just paint exactly how you draw” then it all clicked for me. Thanks to his words I created my first actual painting “Lake Mayer’s Muse”, which made me understand what I was doing a little more. Winter 2023, I was in Alexander Hall on random Friday coming to paint and was stopped in the halls by Honor Bowman. It was my first time really having a conversation with her and she was telling me to submit to AXA Art Prize; an art competition in New York. Listening to her I did and ended getting my work accepted to this great opportunity. This was the moment when I really started believing in myself and seeing my potential. Within time I started achieving more things and receiving more opportunities with great support of my community at SCAD. I was awarded 2nd place of Alexander Ink, Dean’s award for citizenship & Artistry, Connect Savannah article, and my biggest accomplishment so far, Arte Laguna Prize in Venice, Italy. This happened from being at the right place at the right time. I went to one of the painting meetings that’s usually held every quarter and this time Greg seen me and asked if I wanted to paint during the Fine Arts Showcase they were having. I agreed and he gave me and three of my other peers our own piece of 80×86 size canvas. We emailed him our ideas and helped each other staple our canvas to the wall. This was the start and inspiration of me starting to work more at a life size scale thanks to him. On another random day, Honor caught me painting and was telling me to submit to the Arte Laguna Prize, thanks to her encouragement my work was accepted. My work will be displayed at the same time during the Venice Biennale, which there will be thousands of participants. My work will also travel throughout Europe for 2 years which would help the start of my new art journey. I graduated Spring of 2024 and can say that going to SCAD was the best choice I made and helped me change my life drastically. I am now on new beginnings, taking my time while working on myself and my art.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This road has been quite interesting so far. I started off just doing art for fun and not wanting to do anything else. I took the risk and decided to really take it serious. Coming from a small town with lack of creative resources in public schools and pursuing art being out of the norm, you have to have a strong knowing of yourself to keep at your passion. You have to block out the outside noise of others opinions and not be influenced so easily. Don’t follow crowds and don’t let the wrong people make you have any self doubt, even family. You have to be more open minded, unlearn certain things, and relearn. Don’t allow anyone to place you in a box. During this road I have been through a lot of things that would make you want to quit but learning that I am responsible for the life that I want keeps me going. I surprise myself more and more on this journey. Not surprising in a way that I didn’t think I could get this far but surprising in a way to learn that my potential is infinite and I could do whatever I want in this life.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a visual artist working in drawing, painting, and printmaking mediums, mostly specializing in acrylic paint. My work focuses on portraying the essence of my everyday life growing up in the American South (Savannah). I show true authenticity, depicting family members, friends, and community while placing them in rememberable settings, showing the raw. Pulling inspiration from surroundings that are personal, things I grew up seeing and things from my current life. I visualize the personality and characteristics of growing up in the urban south. One of the main elements in my paintings I consistently display is my use of the color red. Growing up red was my favorite color, my mother’s favorite color, my grandmother’s favorite color, and my sister’s favorite color. I use it as symbolism in my paintings to keep family connected. I am mostly proud of my ability to grow and get better everyday as an artist. I am always looking for ways to improve and challenge myself more compared to every new piece I start. I feel as my obsession and resilience sets me apart from others. My ability to push myself, create under any circumstances and not allowing anything to stop me. I love researching other painters who are where I want to be and studying them. I give myself time to paint everyday no matter how busy I am, even if it’s for 15 minutes. I have had times where I have gotten little to no sleep to get far in a painting. Obsession beats everything.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Good luck is like a magnet to my life. I have always believed in myself no matter the circumstances. Having a great self concept and a positive mindset about my goals and art has gotten me very far. No matter how I felt or how others felt, I deeply believed that I am worthy of creating amazing work, attracting opportunities, and becoming the women I want to be.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://malikahtamirah.com
- Instagram: @malikahtamirah
