Debbie Millman has an ongoing project at PRINT titled “What Matters.” This is an effort to understand the interior life of artists, designers, and creative thinkers. This facet of the project is a request of each invited respondent to answer ten identical questions and submit a nonprofessional photograph.
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Arezoo Moseni is an artist & community cultivator whose work is exhibited and collected by major institutions like Bibliothèque nationale de France and Brooklyn Museum.
What is the thing you like doing most in the world?
Guiding my imagination, heart, and soul to fulfill my potential as an individual.
What is the first memory you have of being creative?
I majored in math and science in high school, and also took art classes. I would stay up long hours into the early morning studying and thinking about experimental possibilities especially in chemistry and physics. My room had two large wall to wall windows, one opening to an interior garden with a glass ceiling, and the other to the backyard garden with an iron gate connecting to the community street. One night, I decided to paint instead. I was so excited as I quickly arranged my paint palette with the primary colors and also green. I chose a large brush, and painted sweeping simple forms on the window facing the interior garden. As I was painting, I was experiencing an uncanny feeling of freedom and responsibility because I was making my first large painting on glass that could be seen by everyone. This is my first memory of a glimpse of my inner soul and having a burst of energy to bring it to life. For a while the painting became the talk of the community driving or walking by to see it especially at night lit from the back and front. This pivotal experience made me aware of the importance of freedom, imagination and responsibility in the life of an artist.
What is your biggest regret?
Being courageous and proactive is liberating and keeps me free of regret.
How have you gotten over heartbreak?
As we know, the heart is a muscle. I stretch and expand my heart as I stay in the present and move ahead.
What makes you cry?
Injustice and war destroying the lives of innocent civilians, wildlife, and the Earth.
How long does the pride and joy of accomplishing something last for you?
Zero seconds, my mind is focused on the conceptual, experimental and evolutionary aspects of thinking, doing and making. Much of the time, the end result holds little premium for me unless it is a remarkable solution to improve lives. Pride can be a fickle emotion resulting in self-aggrandizement and loss of compassion.
Do you believe in an afterlife, and if so, what does that look like to you?
This life of flesh and blood is my firsthand observation of the perpetual transformation of all things in the boundless universe. As I watch an owl slowly swallow down a whole field mouse, or a dragonfly seal and eat a butterfly, I observe an instant transformation where the mouse and the butterfly continue on in the form of an owl and dragonfly despite the tragic process. Is our imagination, observations, and stories of how we lived and treated one another parts of an afterlife? I also wonder if the breathtaking intelligent engineering of design in nature, will play any roles in an afterlife?
What do you hate most about yourself?
I used to upset myself because I lacked the skills to stand up to bullies in the workplace. Now, I have learned strategies to break up bullying syndromes.
What do you love most about yourself?
Listening to and respecting my intuition to do the impossible.
What is your absolute favorite meal?
It can be any meal as long as I am surrounded by loved ones and also people from all walks of life that introduce me to other cultures and new possibilities.