Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Harajli.
Hi Sara, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a child, art was an escape. A means to get lost within the marks and movement that quieted the noise when life became too loud. It offered a voice when words were extinguished to move through emotions while remaining deeply observant of the world around me, taking in nuanced details, textures, and energies of different environments. I always felt different, specifically around comprehension to feeling and thought.
It really began as an unconscious preparation for my creative expression, which overtime has developed into sketches, murals, interior design, drumming, dance, photography, poetry, and currently a new exploration of my own artistic practice. These practices have been strongly influenced by various experiences including global travel, metropolitan living, culture, history, interpersonal conversations and relationships.
I have come to understand that I wasn’t created to be confined to a single medium or definition. Creativity has always been woven through the fibers of my being. The journey to where I am today has really been about learning to trust my divine gifts through natural instinct and allowing curiosity to lead while recognizing that each form of expression is another language for the same creative voice that continuously evolves.
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?
No. In order to develop, roads mustn’t always be smooth.
In life, there are often external pressures that influence our decisions that shape our identities, sometimes forcing us into a boxes we are not meant to occupy. Sometimes unexpected experiences may take us on paths we never imagined and it could feel like a delay in progression.
I’ve experienced the challenges of comparison, expectation, cultural ideas on what it means to be creatively successful. I’ve had long periods of over analyzing and questioning my purpose, especially while trying to navigate multiple disciplines. At times, the pressure to choose one medium or style to be taken seriously has caused me to lose focus. Imposter syndrome would surface in moments of doubt, and creative paralysis became the result.
One of the biggest struggles for me has been learning to trust my own creative voice rather than conforming to the beliefs and opinion of others. It also meant learning to surrender to intention enough to allow intuition to take the lead. Over time, I realized multidisciplinarity isn’t a lack of direction; it is part of my language that deserves be honored. These obstacles ultimately taught me discernment, that not every creative impulse needs to become a career or finished body of work, but every curiosity can teach me something if I am willing to accept the invitation.
Roads become smoother when we stop trying to make ourselves fit the criteria and begin to trust the path that is uniquely ours.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a Lebanese American contemporary multidisciplinary artist and creative primarily working across visual art, design, writing, and other forms of expression. I hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Interior Design, and my creative perspective has been shaped by experience in fine art, spatial design, luxury furniture, architectural history, and freelance creative work.
These disciplines have cultivated a sensitivity to composition, materiality, the emotional relationship between people, and the spaces and objects they inhabit. My work is informed by stories, nature, lived experiences within cityscapes, faith, and the many details I encounter in the world around me. Beyond the influences of prestigiously famed artists, I have had the privilege to work under exquisite mentors who are masters of their trade, which has allowed me to adopt techniques to fuse with my own.
One of my greatest strengths is my ability to flow between each creative branch without treating them as separate entities.
Each medium offers a different lens with the same underlying creative voice. Sometimes that voice takes the form of a visual aesthetic and may communicate a discomforting message that stirs up an emotion. I specialize in charcoal, graphite, ink, and pan pastel. A preference in a restrained palette marked by an intentional absence of color encourages viewers to slow down, engage their imagination, and discover meaning within simplicity. I enjoy the mysteries that are created by a contrasting technique called chiaroscuro, the transition of light and dark. There is an unconscious mechanical style that often appears in my work.
Currently, I am exploring an abstract practice centered around the philosophical concept of Metanoia. An inner transformation involving shift in thought, character, perspective; a kind of rebirth of the self. The work challenges habitual ways of creating through experimentation and the combination of artistic techniques, while exploring themes of spirituality, identity, observation, and perception.
What I hope my work becomes recognized for is an invitation to be vulnerable, to preserve stories and honor the beauty of imperfection. Whether that expression exists on paper through poetry, within a stylized living space, across a decorative mural, or stretched canvas. I believe it is essential to practice the beauty self expression through self exposure.
What I am most proud of is not the finality of creating a piece, but what happens when the work leaves me and enters someone else’s experience. There is a something deeply profound about standing back and witnessing the encounter of my work in a shared space and hearing what an observer sees. Their interpretation may completely differ from my intention. I am most fulfilled when the work moves something within them, evokes an emotion, memory, or connection beyond words. To me, that is when art becomes truly relational.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
This may come as a surprise, but I don’t necessarily believe in luck as much as I trust in what is already uniquely and divinely written. I believe there is a wisdom to timing that we may not understand in the moment. What can appear as luck or misfortune, can sometimes be a redirection, an opportunity, or a lesson that reveals itself later. I have become more attentive to recognize what it is asking of me. I have found certainty within the uncertainty, trusting that what is meant for me will find me, and what challenges me can contribute to the person and artist I am becoming.
Pricing:
- There is pricing for original work
- There is pricing for digital prints
- Commissioned requests are welcome
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.saraharajli.com
- Instagram: saraharajlistudio
Image Credits
Philip Carrel
