Samia is a Toronto based illustrator born in Great Britain. Her childhood was spent in Singapore and Hong Kong after which she moved to Pakistan. Artistic pursuit led her back to Singapore in 2000 where she studied graphic design. In 2004 she moved permanently to Toronto completing her Bachelor of Design in Illustration at OCADU.

On influence: The inspiration for my work is largely sub-continental. I would like to direct people’s attention towards cultural aspects that are often left obscured amongst the guns, violence, poverty, and crime that often form the stereotypical image of Pakistan. Ghalib for instance is a literary icon that is revered by both Pakistan and India, who existed at a time when they were geologically, politically and sentimentally one. Ghalib’s verses have an element of charm and allurement that are juxtaposed by the horrid circumstances of his life. Despite that he managed to live with a sensibility that becomes a reminder for us to live with the same virtuosity in our present day to day living. By using Ghalib as a pretext to emphasize our similarities rather than differences I hope to invoke a sense of solidarity amongst the people of the Sub-Continent. Concurrently, there is a poetic-melancholy about this imagery that is archaic and hauntingly-beautiful in its aesthetic.

​On the field of design: One of my biggest admirations is Tibor Kalman. I love his words: “After 20 years I discovered that design is just language and the real issue is what you use that language to do”. An artist or designer is not someone who just makes pretty pictures but a visual communicator purporting ideas that could ignite awareness and/or social change.

 

Insight is one of the greatest assets of the human mind. Knowledge is the door to that insight. Design is the key to that door. And it’s the veracity and willingness to stand on my feet that drives me towards it.

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