Freya Saleh: Visual artist

My name is Freya Saleh. I am a visual artist, specialising in painting. I was born in Bedfordshire, UK, but grew up in Saint Albans.

I am a self-taught artist, I spent my teenage years focussed on realism and representational drawing; mainly portraits and still life work. I was obsessed with making art. Luckily, I didn’t get accepted into art school, so I studied English at university instead, and this is where I found myself and was exposed to ideas and thoughts that have helped me to grow as an artist. In my early 20s I got a job as a studio manager working alongside designers, and this got me curious about making art again. I started collaging and collecting visual imagery until eventually I decided to study an art course in Florence, where I would learn a lot of skills and rediscover my interest in an art career. I’ve worked as an art technician in a secondary school, specialising in 3D and ceramic art, this got me interested in natural and abstract forms.

When I moved to Barcelona in 2020, I realised that I wanted to breathe new life into my work, and that meant stepping out of my comfort zone, so I changed my direction towards abstract art, and since then I’ve been pursuing a new creative language that feels unique to me.

Can you take us with you to the place where you grew up? The sights, the smells, the noises?

Textiles and carpets really lied at the centre of our home. We had Persian carpets in every room, my mum handmade the curtains throughout the house, and they were always floral and somewhat oriental inspired. The dominant colours were red and browns from the rugs and the different wooden furniture. Even my mum’s room was painted ‘Moroccan Red’, it was a beautiful terracotta colour, definitely my favourite room in the entire house, I was always drawn to it. Incense was lit everyday. Sandalwood, ylang ylang, musk. We always had lots of pets; cats, dogs, birds, snakes, a tarantula, they all brought lots of energy to our environment.

How does your heritage/where you are from impact your work as an artist?

I have a mixed heritage. Whilst my mum has Welsh and Irish ancestry, my dad’s family are Arabs, they originated from Yemen and migrated to Sudan. I have heard beautiful stories from my dad, and from my Grandma who worked in many countries across the Middle East and north Africa. It all feels very mysterious to me, and therefore I want to get closer to it somehow through my painting. I look at imagery all the time for inspiration, or even just to meditate, quite often those images are of deserts and natural architecture, landscapes, caves, sandstone… those things are always in the back of my mind. I do believe that I connect with my heritage through colour, through the use of ochres and red pigments, these colours feel like the origin, the beginning, but also the end.

What is the most important lesson your mother taught you?

My mum is a very spiritual and strong woman, she’s never undermined the hidden power of things, she’s taught me to believe in the wisdom of many things, whether it’s the relentless instinct of an animal, or the truth and the warning of a dream or nightmare. She has taught me that there is always a deeper meaning.

What was the moment when you realised that being a multidisciplinary artist was your calling?

As I became a young adult, art was the centre of my life, I concentrated all my energy towards it, I pursued it in my spare time and on the weekends. I knew at that time I would always have an ongoing relationship with art and creating.

How do you want people to feel when they see, touch or receive your art?

The only thing I can hope for is that my work sparks some introspection in the viewer, I want them to give the work its own mystery.

What makes you feel empowered?

Lots of exercise and music.

What have been your biggest challenges in your journey so far?

I face challenges in my art all the time, it’s a constant rollercoaster of emotions. The worst days are the ones when I don’t feel like painting, but then I do anyway. Whenever I put a lot of pressure on myself to create something, it always ends with frustration, but then I remind myself of the process and that it’s not all meant to go smoothly, as painful as it can be, it helps the work in the end.

Have you had any pivotal life changing moments? What were they?

My memory of my own life, especially my childhood, is very vague. But the moments that do stand out are the ones where I discovered writers and poets who really resonate with me. Those moments felt like such a profound shift in perspective. Writers like Thomas Hardy, D.H. Lawrence, Gaston Bachelard, the Romantic poets, they all mean so much to me.

Your manifesto to being in charge of your life?

Both my parents have always said to me “when in control, control”. That comes to the front of my mind a lot.

What is success for you?

Creating work that truly feels like the core and essence of me, and finally reaching a point where I don’t second guess myself.

Hindsight is a beautiful thing. What have been the most important lessons you can share?

Don’t give up on your passion. I would say I neglected art after I graduated, it seems so bizarre to remember that I did that. I’m not saying you have to work at it everyday, because not all artists can do that, myself included, just don’t let it go altogether.

Create the work for yourself.