Exploring the Mystical Cosmos: The Arts Of Zainap Muckdoombukus

Zainap Muckdoombukus, who is currently residing in Terre Rouge, has a unique interest that she also manages to make a career from. Apparently, she was not the one who found the arts; rather, the arts found her. Painting is something that she is really passionate about, and she also teaches art at the college level.

Inspired By Dan Brown And Science…

In the middle of the 2000s, Dan Brown, a well-known author, startled the entire globe with his novel The Da Vinci Code. We are all familiar with this individual. It is well known that Dan Brown’s novels contain a religious and mysterious combination that is distinctive to him. The gothic way of expressing arts is something that Zainap was quite interested in. While on the other hand, science, and more specifically astronomy, plays a significant role in her ideas regarding painting. Considering that she was a student of the scientific side, astrophysics helped her become more motivated to come up with concepts for her paintings.

QUESTION: How did you discover your artistic abilities? What motivated and encouraged you to pursue the arts?

ZAINAP MUCKDOOMBUKUS: “Growing up, I always used to draw and paint, but I never attributed any importance to the art world. Then during my teenage years I came across the novels of Dan Brown; particularly The Da Vinci Code, and this completely changed my perspective in arts. I became fascinated by the Renaissance era and Baroque period and started to develop a liking for the subject, hence choosing it as a career path.”

QUESTION: Your primary focus in painting appears to be portraits and astronomy. What is the rationale behind this?

ZAINAP MUCKDOOMBUKUS: “I do occasionally paint seascapes or landscapes as commissioned work, but my personal style is between astronomical art and portrait. Portrait because I started to paint with MIchelangelo, Botticelli, Carravaggio and so on as artists of reference and I always found the human figure so fascinating. Astronomical art came with my study of physics and my love for the stars, galaxies and the environment surrounding us and as they say as humans we are all stardust.”

QUESTION: As an art teacher, you interact with numerous students on a daily basis. What level of curiosity do they exhibit in the arts today?

ZAINAP MUCKDOOMBUKUS: “Depending on their sociocultural background, students have different contact with the art world. Students coming from low socio-economical background tend to have zero to no notion of the importance of art. Hence, their interest in the subject seems to be quite limited or non-existent. As a teacher it is a daily challenge to create the awe of the art world and to make them understand that as a subject art is not limited to only drawing and painting but rather can be beneficial in many other career path or even in their personal development.”

QUESTION: AI is altering the arts. What is your perspective on the future of art with AI? Specifically on painting.

ZAINAP MUCKDOOMBUKUS: “AI can serve as a creative partner for artists, offering suggestions, generating ideas, and providing new techniques. This can diminish the process of experimentation and research work for artists; hence making the process of creating a painting less time-consuming and having to make use of less resources. Nevertheless, AI-generated art may lack personal touch and emotional depth that comes from human experiences and as AI becomes more proficient in creating art, it could threaten the livelihoods of professional artists/painters.”