An interior designer and fashion illustrator, Moaza Matar’s designs positively sparkle with freshness and novelty. Whether it is her water-color fashion illustrations or her innovative interior-designing, Moaza evidently seeks to imbue whatever she does with her distinctive artistic voice.
Born and raised in Dubai, UAE, the Emirati interior designer may be multi-talented when it comes to art, but she shines most especially when it comes to creatively energizing fashion spaces.
We spoke to Moaza to find out further about her journey and future plans.
What led you to become an interior designer?
I got my BA degree in Interior Design from Zayed University in Dubai and subsequently pursued my professional internship training in New York and Boston. I have always loved fine arts: painting, drawing, and sculpture, in addition to art history and visiting museums. In college, I joined all different kinds of art courses and I happened to enjoy interior designing the most.
You specialize in fashion spaces amongst others. Do you have any particular interiors style approach that you apply towards them? What do you think is the relationship between interiors and fashion?
I have designed for various spaces. I think interiors and fashion designing are linked together with art; most of my inspirations in my designs are based on my knowledge and skills in fine arts. All my interior design styles are sleek, minimalist and bold. I use fashion elements such as illustration and drawings but I don’t base them as the main element of the design. I use fashion as interior decorating not interior designing.
Tell us about your fashion illustrations. Where did that interest stem from? What is it that you hope to convey through your drawings?
I love to draw anything in general. Back in 2008, while I was working as an intern in New York and Boston, the dazzling experiences I had had with fashion over there really impacted me. It grew over the years, leading me to mix interiors with art and art with fashion drawings and it became my passion. There are a lot of great fine artists who love interior designing and have accomplished exciting work in the intersection of art and interior designing – and I hope to be one of them one day.
Is there any particular reason why you chose watercolors as your medium?
To me, there is a unique beauty in using water color; it combines drawing and painting and I find the results very attractive. You can develop your own style from the different brush strokes that you can create by water color. I love it!
You recently did an installation for luxury multi-brand boutique Symphony’s Spring/Summer 2011 season, The Garden of Symphony. How did you go about preparing it?
We wanted to give the viewer the feeling of the spring and summer, intermingling nature with art and art with fashion. However, we did not want to structure the look around a clichéd spring-time floral look. We thought of doing something different that can represent the season and we decided to go for a butterfly theme instead. In the installation, I used canvas, paper laser-cut 3D butterflies, flowers and the actual dresses; the store windows sought to give the viewer the feel of nature and art amid fashion.
What are your future projects?
I love art history and design and I’m planning to pursue an MA in Exhibitions and Museums Design, which is a field within the interior design. I will hopefully start by the end of this year. I’m also currently working on a bigger international fashion illustration project, details of which I can only share in the future!
For more information about Moaza’s works, visit her website http://moazamatar.carbonmade.com/ and blog http://fashionartfrosting.blogspot.com/
– Priyanka Sacheti
