Samarra Khaja makes happy, beautiful things, inspired by her love of travel, local markets, food and culture, and her young sons.
The daughter of an Indian architect and an Australian painter, Samarra got hooked on making interesting things when she was still a kid, raiding her parent’s high quality art supplies.
She studied for her masters in photography and moved to New York to work across disciplines as a designer, photographer, art director and illustrator for the likes of The New York Times, the Guggenheim, Bliss, Time Magazine, Victoria’s Secret and Cirque du Soleil, all in her signature whimsical style.
She’s won several awards, but gets the biggest kick from seeing her prize-winning 24′ x 120′ mural, “Heartbeat Brooklyn” featuring a smSamarra Khaja makes happy, beautiful things, inspired by her love of travel, local markets, food and culture, and her young sons.
The daughter of an Indian architect and an Australian painter, Samarra got hooked on making interesting things when she was still a kid, raiding her parent’s high quality art supplies.
She studied for her masters in photography and moved to New York to work across disciplines as a designer, photographer, art director and illustrator for the likes of The New York Times, the Guggenheim, Bliss, Time Magazine, Victoria’s Secret and Cirque du Soleil, all in her signature whimsical style.
She’s won several awards, but gets the biggest kick from seeing her prize-winning 24′ x 120′ mural, “Heartbeat Brooklyn” featuring a smiling clawfoot bathtub, bagels on a rollercoaster, and hot-dogs on a ferris wheel, all frolicking and untouched by graffiti on the side of Lowe’s Brooklyn store.
Samarra’s happiest when she’s experimenting, going off-pattern or getting in to the textures of meaning in textiles, from batik to kimonos to basotho blankets.
Her textiles remix traditional fabrics with contemporary design with a cheerful irreverence. They’re bright, bold and, best of all, playful. Look for her work on Spoonflower under the name “Sammy K.”
See more of her work at www.samarrakhaja.com and keep up with her latest projects at samarrakhaja.tumblr.com...more