Local Artist Spotlight: Get to know Nadia Shaik

Nadia Shaik (Nakia Shade online) is a YouTuber, Author, Collagist, and Art Educator. Her multi-cultural background and love of storytelling lead to richly layered artwork and inspiring workshops.

How long have you been an artist? I’ve been working professionally as an artist since 2021 after completing a comics and illustration mentorship with my friend Blake Laser, Author-Artist, and Disney Fine Artist, Larissa Brown. Since then, I’ve been published by Dark Horse Comics. I’ve been creating stories and multimedia art since I was 13 and have always loved storytelling and visual art. In 2019 during the pandemic, I founded Garam Masala Studios which publishes my work and my brand Cool Storytellers creative wellness workshops.

Describe your art practice? My art practice is centered around storytelling. I create both traditional and digital collage work. Many of my pieces explore identity, emotion, and transformation. Additionally, I produce YouTube dramas inspired by soap operas, fantasy, and graphic novels. Some projects include storyboard-style scenes while others focus on a single emotional moment or visual narrative.

Where do your ideas come from? What materials inspire you? My ideas often come from everyday life, investing in myself, mixed culture, and observing people. I produce dramas for misfit women that inspire action to level up your lifestyle. I enjoy layering paper textures, photo bashing, found imagery, digital elements, and mixed media together. My iPad has become one of my favorite tools because it allows me to combine traditional artistic techniques with digital storytelling and animation.

How do you incorporate art into your daily life? It’s my job to have a beautiful life. Art is how I connect with the inner world of others. Because of my Blasian Muslim upbringing and personal values around authenticity, I see my lifestyle itself as a collage. Prioritizing my creativity influences how I invest in myself, organize my materials, and care for my environment. I believe resilience, strength, and intention should show up in both my artwork and everyday life.

Are there new materials, mediums, techniques, or themes you are working on? Currently, I’m exploring animated digital collage and multimedia storytelling through my audiobook drama, “Song of Wata,” on my YouTube channel: youtube.com/@IAmNakiaShade. I’m especially interested in blending paper collage aesthetics with Moho Animation, my voice, and vertical storytelling. Thematically, I’m exploring truth, self-care, transformation, and physical resilience.

Any upcoming shows or workshops where people can see your work in person? I teach beginner-friendly paper collage workshops online and in person weekly. I host Cut & Create Paper Collage classes on Skool. I share tutorials and updates on my YouTube channel: YouTube.com/@papercollage. My book, “Starving Artist Fed Artist: How Artists, Crafters and Creatives Can Get Paid to Teach What They Know,” is also available worldwide on Amazon.

Amy Mower is a local artist and lifelong Beaverton resident. She is passionate about the future of the arts in our community.