Life is Fluid

Q&A w/ Alya Zouaoui

by Irvin Alonzo

“One who knows himself is never disrupted by what others think about him” - Buddha

Meet Alya Zouaoui (She/They), an inspirational artist who uses her past to spread love and peace through her artistic talent and empathetic heart, showing the world that a person still has their entire lifetime to create and find themselves. As a child, she would always keep her hands occupied with doodles, puzzles, PixOs, Model Magic and enjoyed observing nature. However, growing up in a conservative environment forced Alya to experience a lot of hardships.

Healing the wounds from her past was a difficult task, yet mirroring her life to the song Too Fast by Sonder, she experienced wounds from a young age, but found the strength to keep going, viewing suffering as a learning moment where one can “experience ego death.” She learned that accepting that no one understands oneself better than themselves helped her be more kind to herself and others, as her actions don’t just impact herself but those around her. For this reason, she’s inspired by her past to emphasize that “the only way…[to] find peace in a chaotic and hate-filled society is to focus on self-awareness and mindfulness.” When one does this they also become empathic and learn to love themselves which is what she strives to do with her creations.

Alya’s consistent theme in her art is “Life Is Fluid.” Inspired by artists such as Salvador Dali, Christian Scott and Gabe Weis, she creates art that displays her emotions and growth. She enjoys exploring different media, depending on what inspires her at that moment, when she feels stuck, she regains her creativity by sitting with her thoughts in silence through mediation or journaling. She lives by the concept of “Anything can be art”, in her judgement, creativity comes from the “inner you, the part of you that no one sees.”

After experiencing so much in her life she found peace in the dark, understood all things change, felt safe and okay with being alone, and understood that no one can control how the world flows, everything is unknown but has the potential to change. Alya Zouaoui is an artist who is changing the world through her beautiful creations and heart.

“Society makes you feel like you need to live up to some expectation in order to be ‘successful’ or ‘accomplished’ or ‘reach your career goals’ when in reality if we remove those expectations, we’re only left with everything we need to survive and become who we want to be, who we mean to me, who we are...that ends up lost in the false reality we’re forced into.”