My Obsession with Plants and Faces

Illustrator Iman Makzume showcases new work while trying to understand her obsession with plants and faces.

Written & Illustrated by Iman Makzume

I have so many things to say, so many things going through my head. Sometimes it’s so intense that I have trouble seeing clearly, and it’s in those moments that I draw the most. Maybe it’s weird, but the drawings I like best are the ones I do when I’m not supposed to: in class most of the time.

I’m often asked, “Who is that person in your drawing?” I never draw anyone in particular. I just draw someone, but I don’t know who. I always start with the eyes, and then, depending on how the eyes turn out, I decide how the rest will be like. Never have I thought about a face before drawing it. I love drawing faces so much, and lately I discovered an obsession with duets or duos; I feel like they really add something and make a picture more “complete” and “full.”

Lately I also enjoy drawing plants and vases. Don’t ask me why; I don’t even know myself. One day, four months ago, I drew a plant and since then I’ve been drawing plants nonstop. Creative periods are often in phases. At least for me.

I like the warmth in colours, I like to play with composition, I like that all the elements of a drawing are linked together to create a kind of harmony which is really therapeutic for me. I believe everybody has their own harmony and that some people have a more powerful one that they need to externalise. I think that is what I like so much about plants and duets: their harmony.

My compositions and drawings don’t mean much. They exist only for the satisfaction that their harmony provides me. Maybe it’s a little selfish, I don’t know, but it’s really this “harmony” I have talked about that allows me to create and move forward.

I want to try many different things. I’ve done some experiments with collage. I like it. It’s funny, because a little nothing can change the whole atmosphere of the collage: an eyebrow a little too far to the right for example. That’s why I have the most fun during the process; I enjoy positioning the elements in different ways before gluing them together to freeze them. I also tried oil painting. I don’t have the technique at all and my works will surely lose their colour in a few years, but I enjoy it. The way the colours mix during the process is so satisfying. I always want to do more: sculptures, films, photography… There are so many incredible things in the world that give me faith in humanity and make me want to create.