10 Questions with Zemfira Alaskarzade

Alaskarzade Zemfira Niyazi was born on August 27, 2002 in Azerbaijan.
Currently studying at the Chemistry Department of Baku State University, she uses materials such as watercolor, watercolor pencils, white/black acrylic in mixed media, oil and dry pastels, acrylic, and gouache in pure form.

Сapable to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation or to develop creative ways to solve a problem, she comes up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity), matches or detects differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Also, she is working as a jewelry artist in a private workshop.

She has a diploma, confirmed by Agaali Ibrahimov (Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, Secretary of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan), Galib Gasimov (Director of the Azerbaijan National Art Gallery), Zahid Avazov (Director of the Khatai Art Center), and a diploma confirmed by Rashad Mehdiyev (Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, Doctor of Science).

@zyuzich

ARTIST STATEMENT

Zemfira paints in her own style, which was born thanks to impressionism and expressionism. She is inspired by the ideas of impressionism in the transmission of the first emotions, impressions, and expressionism - a vivid demonstration of feelings. However, the main genre of her work is portraiture. There, she seeks to show through the look, facial expressions, color, the inner beauty of a person: character, emotions, and feelings.
Her education as a chemist also influenced her work. In some works, she uses color changes in chemical reactions. So, for example, the choice of a palette can be based on some kind of qualitative reaction of halogens, a change in the color of the precipitate, or solution.
A year ago she started learning jewelry art.

Lovers, watercolor, acrylics and gold leaf, 30x38 cm, 2021 © Zemfira Alaskarzade

INTERVIEW

First of all, introduce yourself to our readers. How did you start experimenting with images?

Hello! My name is Zemfira Alaskarzade, and I am a contemporary artist, jeweler, and woman who was born in Azerbaijan in a country where many cultures are mixed: Eastern culture, USSR culture, and nowadays, also the influence of Western culture. All this somehow left a mark on Azerbaijan and, accordingly, on its citizens too. Trying to get out of the conservative framework, I create a new vision of portraits, where the main role is to convey the emotions and feelings of a person through color and its properties. I started my portraits by experimenting with oil pastels, and then I transferred the technique of strokes to watercolor. My inspiration comes from the impressionist and postimpressionist painters. The people who laid the foundations of modern art are among the first to bring art to another level of understanding.
A year ago, I started my career as an apprentice in a workshop, and now I have released my first collection of silver jewelry.

You studied chemistry, when did you realize you wanted to be an artist?

I have been doing art since childhood and always wanted to become an artist, but it just so happened that I entered the Faculty of Chemistry. During my 2nd year of study, I began to actively develop my career as an artist, developed my own style, sent applications to galleries, and worked with contemporary artists of Azerbaijan. But in fact, the Faculty of Chemistry has given me a good basis for my work, both in painting and jewelry.
I have a good understanding of paints, metals, and stones and can apply that in my work.

Insomnia, crayons, 28.7x19 cm, 2020 © Zemfira Alaskarzade

How would you define yourself as an artist today?

I am now actively developing myself in the jewelry field, and painting has faded into the background for a bit. But this is temporary, as I am building my second or third jewelry collection to have a wide portfolio. My plan for the future is to develop my style in jewelry design in the same way as in my painting.

Can you tell us about the process of creating your work?

The process of creating my portraits has several stages. The first is a sketch and underpainting; the second is filling the face with dark strokes (shadows), then lighter strokes (penumbra), and so on to white acrylic. I work with a limited palette of no more than six colors, including white acrylics. Finally, I work on the eyes and hair. I try to make the eyes hyper-realistic so that there is a contrast and a lively look.
Jewelry often starts with stone selection. Somehow, it happens to me that the first thing I do is not make a sketch of the piece but buy the stones. Next, I work out the image under the stone and build a model in 3D, print, cast in silver, process silver, and fix the stones.

Woman, watercolor and acrylic, 20x30 cm, 2021 © Zemfira Alaskarzade

You work primarily with portraits. What themes do you pursue and what messages do you want to convey to the viewers?

Working primarily with portraits, I show the diversity of people, their appearance features, and the life imprinted on their faces. I like to tell stories through colors. For example, many people think that red can only show aggression and passion, but in fact, if you work with it, you can reveal other emotions: calmness or peace.
The eyes are also important in my work as they are the main focus after color. The gaze plays an equal role in storytelling and can tell a lot about a person.

Do you have a role model that you’ve drawn inspiration from when creating your art?

As I said above, these are the artists of the impressionism and post-impressionism eras. My personal favorite is the Azerbaijani artist Sattar Bahlulzade. As for contemporary artists, I adore Elena Rossato (roxartss); she is one of my main idols, and her painting technique is simply magnificent. In the jewelry world, it is my mentor Narmina Yaverova (medusajeweller); she teaches me everything a jeweler needs to know.

Calmness, watercolor and acrylics, 22x15 cm, 2020 © Zemfira Alaskarzade

What’s the essential element in your art?

The most important thing in my work is people, because I'm talking about them. And I make jewelry for them.

What about your colors and color palette? And how does your background in chemistry influence your choice of colors?

I work with a limited palette, usually using 5-6 colors. Sometimes these are shades of the same color; sometimes, they are different matching colors. I am often inspired by nature: forest, sunrise, and sunset. My background in chemistry helps me a lot with this too, and it happens that you do a reaction and see color changes or you put several colored test tubes side by side, and this gives ground for new ideas. It is even possible to encapsulate the entire chemical process in one picture.

KhariBulBul, watercolor, acrylic, gold leaf, 30x40 cm, 2021 © Zemfira Alaskarzade

How do you promote your work? Do you participate in exhibitions or online presentations?

Most of the time, I promote my work through contests and exhibitions. I look for magazines, museums, and exhibitions and apply for them; more often, it happens online because it's not always possible to participate live.
In terms of jewelry, everything is also developing rapidly, I already have regular customers and will soon be exhibiting in local showrooms.

Finally, any projects you are looking forward to for this new year?

This year, as I said, I plan to exhibit in several showrooms. From the projects, I would like to exhibit my work on people's pasts, and this year I would like to move from miniatures to larger works in watercolor.

Related Interviews