Today we’d like to introduce you to Asad Badat.
Asad, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was born to a Muslim, Pakistani-American family in Houston, Texas. I loved drawing and hand-lettering as an adolescent and being exposed to various art forms helped me expand my definition of art over the years. I understood that self-expression could take any form that a person desired, and I soon began photographing everyone and everything with my dad’s point-and-shoot camera.
In 2015, I received my BFA in Photography – Digital Media at the University of Houston (UH). Before this, I was studying law and engineering, and at the time I was singing in performances that made me realize that art was the path I wanted to take. I chose to study photography and focused on exploring my identity and culture. In doing so, I discovered new ways to communicate them and produced multiple bodies of work. My art classes ultimately taught how I could push the boundaries of photography to places I never knew existed.
Immediately after graduating, I began an intensive three-semester program that taught me how to incorporate fashion design into my artistic practice. I used this to further investigate my culture by means of garment research, construction, and deconstruction. In 2016, I completed my Post-Baccalaureate in Fashion, Body and Garment at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). It was extremely challenging yet rewarding, and definitely pushed me to my limits.
I am currently the Wedding Gift Registry Manager at Macy’s Houston Galleria, as well as the District Mentor in the Houston/Louisiana area. In other words, I have the honor of leading and training talented people who can create wonderful experiences for their clients. I also get to share my favorite fashion finds at Macy’s through social media as an official Macy’s Style Crew member – a program meant to empower Macy’s colleagues to celebrate individuality and share unique perspectives on Macy’s products, brands, and causes. This lets me combine my retail background with my fashion interests.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why, and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I see myself as a unique combination of three identities: Muslim, Pakistani, and American. My artwork has given me the opportunity to celebrate my culture. I used photography to interpret cultural topics like religious coexistence, worship, and qawwali (Islamic devotional music) from an American-born perspective. The resulting collages were inspired by repetitive motifs found in arabesque art and South Asian clothing. I also reinterpreted Pakistani fashion by materializing my research about the kurta (tunic-like garment) as three-dimensional shapes to create a menswear collection.
As an interdisciplinary artist, disciplines like fashion design and photography function as languages to communicate concepts that I want to execute. Sometimes my concepts are inspired by a person, event, or object. Other times, a concept develops as a result of experimenting with collaging, distorting, or manipulating photographs. Most of my work can be viewed digitally with select projects manifesting as a board game, a tapestry, prints, stickers, and garments.
I create art to expand my imagination and satisfy my curiosity of the world around me. Curiosity leads me to research topics using either introspection or written sources. I enjoy viewing unusual or stimulating images, regardless of medium, that give me creative permission to consider something I once thought was not an option. I like to spark a conversation with my viewers.
I recently launched Asad Badat Studio to pursue automotive, lifestyle, and product photography as a professional freelancer; I am excited to engage with my city. My customer service, management, and creative experience has prepared me to collaborate with clients. I can utilize my distinctive styles of image-making to promote their vision.
The sterotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
Having a steady flow of income(s) tremendously helps in supporting an artistic practice. When I first considered art galleries and museums for employment, I discovered a great opportunity for these institutions to demonstrate their support of upcoming artists by paying a substantial wage. Thankfully, there are many other methods of gaining financial stability and freelance freedom. I have learned that our ideas are only as good as our execution, so be steadfast in your pursuit to create art.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
The best way to follow my work is through my website, asadbadat.com, where you can subscribe to receive alerts about new projects and blog posts. You can follow my studio page, Asad Badat Studio, on Instagram and Facebook. And you can also follow my personal work on Instagram, @asadbadat.art.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.asadbadat.com
- Email: badatasad@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/asadbadat.art
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/asadbadat.photo
- Other: www.instagram.com/asadbadat.photo
Image Credit:
Asad Badat
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