The paintings that cover the walls of her East Lansing home are as bright and colorful as
Zahrah Resh herself, the boldness an anthem to a woman who never lost sight of her passion.
“I’ve always loved painting, but in school I was told that I was very bad at art,” Zarah explains. “It was a secret that I always kept in the back of my head.”
As the middle child of seven in a very traditional Malaysian family the message was — you will go to school. “My parents wanted all of us to be either doctors, lawyers or CEO’s.” So she arrived at MSU in 1977 to study business.
From there, she got her degree in business, married, moved to the Detroit area and started a family. Resh and her husband Bill started a New Year’s tradition of taking a long walk and discussing the future. One year he started the walk with: “What do you want to for yourself?”
“It took me 10 years to find the true answer,” she smiles.
Path of PaintingWhile still at MSU, Resh and a friend had visited a
Monet exhibit at a gallery on the campus of Princeton University. “I looked at Monet’s pieces and thought to myself — you can do that.”
Later, there was the trip with Bill to the Guggenheim in New York City. “I was standing in front of a retrospective by
Robert Rauschenberg. If he can get his goat in the Guggenheim, I can paint.”
“Then do it,” her husband said.
So twelve years ago, Resh moved to East Lansing and bought a house not far from campus. “Here are your walls,” said her husband. “Now fill them.”
And fill them she has. Nearly ever square inch of wall space displays her work. Colorful, vibrant, energized art. “My art has taken on a life of its own.” And it all started with a $45 outlay for paper and charcoal.
From her studio in the lower level of her home she continues to create. “I’ve even started pushing my husband out of his workshop space. Which could be a problem, since he does all of my framing, matting and documenting,” she says.
Zahrah Resh GalleryWhile Resh has done her share of exhibits (Boone, North Carolina,
Lansing Art Gallery, East Lansing Library, Flint’s
Buckham Gallery), her finest is on permanent display at the
Zahrah Resh Gallery in Lansing. “The gallery is a dream come true,” she beams.
Proposed by a friend who owns the building, the Zahrah Resh Gallery
opened in December of 2008. The 2,000 square foot space takes up three large rooms of the second floor. Rooms filled with pieces that she describes as ranging from restorative, comforting and reflective to richly colored, challenging and exploratory.
Part of the second floor also includes a large conference room used by the Sutton Advisors, housed on the first floor. Two of Resh’s large paintings bookend the walls of conference room. “It serves a need for both of us. He gets art in his conference room and I get a chance to display my work. It’s a great partnership.”
The gallery is open by appointment only.
Meant to Be Here “Bill and I were very deliberate in our decision to move here from Detroit over 12 years ago,” she says. “There is so much going on in the area. It has the university, arts, government and a real sense of community. It’s very creatively energized.”
She describes
East Lansing as the perfect blend for her palate. “From the moment I drove into the city, I felt like I had come home. I was meant to be here,” she says. Resh also heaps praise on her great neighbors who are always willing to help in any way. “The people here are very supportive.”
That support was put to the test in 2004 when Resh was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
“I heard about this group of women artists. I basically joined the group so I could have an outlet to talk about what was going on with me.” For Resh, the group has become a major source of inspiration, support and healing.
The group of mainly fiber artists gets together regularly for show and tell. “They push me into areas where I’m not comfortable.” As a result, Resh has started incorporating stitching and 3D work into her art. The group also created a round robin book for her that she proudly displays at her gallery.
“They’re an amazing group of women. They show up for all of my exhibits.” They’ve even brought food into the mix. “We’re now experimenting with food and cooking and bringing our artistic skills to the table, literally.”
Resh also developed her technique of using glass as a brush. She actually dips pieces of glass into ink and draws with it. The technique creates pieces that range from abstracts to landscapes.
The browns that predominate in many of the pieces are from ink she makes from walnuts. She refers to the paintings done with this technique as her Recovery Paintings.
Yes, life has been good to Resh lately. First the gallery, then a $1,000 grant from the Greater Lansing Arts Council. “It keeps me doing art-related work everyday.”
“I want to write plays, and create music and continue to paint,” she says. “I also hope to write a book on art and healing. There is still so much left to do. I have definitely found the perfect place to do it.”
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Viki Lorraine is a public health consultant by day and a writer by night.
Dave Trumpie is the managing photographer for Capital Gains. He is a freelance photographer and owner of Trumpie Photography.
Photos:
Zahrah Resh in her studio and gallery
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie