UAE: This Dubai-based French artist's work is a unique mix of vintage meets vogue

Dubai - Dubai-based French artist Azaïdé’s works are a blend of vintage and vogue, tradition and innovation, art and fashion. Through her works, she depicts independent and strong women in diverse settings, highlighting various patterns’ heritage, fusing vintage and modern codes into authentic traditional wear

Chloé Robin, aka Azaïdé, made Dubai her home six years ago. Born in Paris, of French, Algerian and Spanish origins, her art is a blend of retro-pop-art-revolutionary, and it’s interesting to get a peek into the thought process behind each of her works. For Azaïdé, it all starts with an old black and white photograph. Then, she imagines a story about the people she sees in the picture and creates new characters and powerful women she looks up to. “At last, I add a funky touch with elements from pop culture for all to be able to relate,” she adds. And how did she get her artist name? “Azaïdé is my middle name, given to me by my grandmother. She travelled to Iran in the ’80s and fell in love with the name ‘Azadeh’, a Persian word meaning free-minded. She added her little touch to it and made it Azaïdé. It really is the best way to describe my artist self,” says the artist whose latest collection titled Couture Divas is on display at Hotel Indigo Dubai Downtown for the summer (until August 31). Each of the art pieces in the collection depicts independent and strong women in diverse settings highlighting various patterns’ heritage, fusing vintage and modern codes into authentic traditional wear. She shares how her grandmother has been a great influence on her, “She’s been my role model, I’ve heard her stories about fighting for female rights in North Africa.” We get to know more about the collection, her inspirations, and more.

How and when did you decide to make the shift to Dubai?

I worked as a fashion designer in China for three years and when my contract came to an end, I decided to fly to Dubai for a vacation to visit my brother, who’d moved here in 2009. I was not planning on staying any longer than a few weeks, and it’s now been six years. Dubai offered me the new adventure that I was looking for at that time. I fell in love with the city, its vibrant energy, its multiculturalism, its culturally diverse spaces, and the amazing mix of nationalities living and working together. Today, I’m glad to call Dubai home.

What has been your experience of working as an artist in the Middle East?

Everyone I have had the chance to encounter in my journey has been welcoming and helpful, which helped me feel at home. Dubai comes with its challenges. Like any other city, it is a new environment to adapt to, new weather, new work pace, new rules, and so on. However, Dubai has given me the chance to blossom as an artist, which is extremely rewarding and I am grateful. It has been exciting to meet artists from all around the world, opening my mind to different cultures and influences. I am growing both, personally and professionally, learning from such diverse talent.

Your work is an inimitable mix of vintage meets vogue. What is it about the mix that you like?

I have always had a passion for vintage objects and clothes. It all goes back to summers spent immersing myself in French flea markets. I would always go home with an old unique object and vintage posters. I also am a big fan of modern pop culture, especially hip-hop music. I have started to mix both to create unique artworks that are timeless. I would like to add that my family is a mix of cultures, which I strongly believe translates into my work that is based on diversity. I like to mix cultural codes, patterns, styles and features, adding a zest of funkiness in one big arty blender.

Do you have a favourite piece?

I love each and every artwork for distinct reasons. But if I have to choose one, it would be the roller skates for various reasons. First, because I will always remember the long nights spent on that one, it is the biggest piece in the collection. Secondly, it turns out that the final piece was not what I had in mind, it was even better. I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out!

Could you compare the art scene of the UAE with that of Paris?

Paris has had an established art scene for hundreds of years, always on the rise, which I believe is an inescapable destination of the contemporary art scene. On the other hand, Dubai has an emerging art scene, which has been expanding for the past decade. Paris’ burgeoning art scene gathers world-known institutions that have made history in the French capital as well as hundreds of art galleries, each one of which has a personalised space with its own identity. Moreover, when walking in the streets of Paris, you have the chance to enjoy art everywhere, starting from street art in every corner of the city, ongoing diverse international exhibitions or opening nights in art galleries. As an artist, living and working in Paris is an incredible opportunity to draw inspiration from a wide range of styles to develop one’s own. Dubai being a new destination in the art world provides opportunities for artists to rise and shine and to get international attention in the Middle East. Therefore, I would say that both art scenes are very much complementary for an artist to experiment and grow in his/her career.

Where did your early inspiration come from?

It all goes back to my early childhood. I had a chance to travel and grow up abroad with my family; I lived in Africa, Asia, Madagascar and Eastern Europe, which naturally exposed me to multiple cultures, colours and patterns. Being surrounded by such overwhelming diversity at such an early stage of my life definitely had a strong impact on me and my work.

Could you highlight a few elements that you play with?

I enjoy working with embroidery, the ancient traditional technique that I learned in my design school in Paris, Studio Berçot, where I graduated from in 2009 as a fashion designer. My work is all about making connections between vintage and vogue, tradition and innovation, art and fashion and the embroidery technique gives me the freedom to play with colours, textures, 3D effects, and to add my personal funky twist to this ancestral savoir-faire. What I like to play with the most is the incorporation of elements from the Middle Eastern cultures, and to mix them with icons of hip-hop music and digital elements.

Did you study art as a subject?

I was drawing, doing collages from magazines and any other elements I could find around me when I was only six. The fact that I lived abroad gave me a rich visual background, a lot of memories that I am translating into my artworks today. I leaned more towards creative side as a teenager rather than academics. The latter. however, led me to enroll in one of the best fashion schools in Paris.

What does a day in the life of Azaïdé look like — pre-and during the pandemic?

Just like my true self, my days are split into two. I am a mother during day time and I am an artist during night time. The pandemic was a tough time for me, like for many of us. Listening to the news every day was depressing. During the pandemic, I found a way to escape from the daily bad news through art. I believe that pop colours and embroidery were my two antidotes to release stress. This is how my collection for Couture Divas was born.

As an artist, what would you like to do to see change globally?

One of the many things I would like to see change in is people’s preconceived ideas about different cultures. I would love everyone to not be afraid of other cultures, to be open to the unknown, to go out of their comfort zone, to explore whatever things they are not familiar with, and last but not least, to embrace differences and imperfections as a way to share, inspire one another and create together.

Your message to all the women who look up to you?

Women are always told to either choose between being a mother and raising a family and working and building a career. Well, let me tell you that it is wrong, you do not have to choose because you can do all of it. My message is to not be afraid to be a mother and a career woman. Go above and beyond what society fills your brain with and just do it, you will see how rewarding it feels. Never set any limit to your creativity, desires and aspirations, and believe in whatever your gut tells you. In other words, always believe in yourself.

Do you have a message for artists who are starting out?

Regardless of all the pessimistic comments an artist may hear, such as “the art field is saturated”, “very few artists make a living from their art”, “you better get an office job to be financially secure”, “your art will not be accepted in the Middle East”, “you are not allowed to show that” and so on, I never gave up on the faith I put in my work, and I am grateful I did not. There will always be a pathway to get wherever you are aiming at, it may not be the way you imagined it would be, but you will get there, eventually. I strongly believe that talent is something you grow through hard work, experiences of life, connections, and by being at the right place at the right time.

purva@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai