We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sea Zeda a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sea, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
My childhood and early career instilled diverse forms of resilience. The constant relocations stemming from my father’s role as a Naval Commander influenced my ability to easily adapt my whole life and rebuild in new states and countries. This adaptability proved favorable in the initial stages of my professional journey. I relocated from Japan to NY to earn a BFA from Pratt Institute’s rigorous textiles and apparel program.
After graduation, I embraced roles as a designer and product developer in the ”Devil Wears Prada” atmosphere of Manhattan’s fashion world. As a young professional, I was a sweet girl embodying creative passion and armed with technical skills I was eager to dedicate to the craft. Little did I know how the arduous workload and formidable personalities would mold me with a resilience tailored for mature professional life—a resilience capable of handling challenges with more grace, critical thinking, defending ideas, and managing complex hierarchies without breaking down – as often. In the crucible of New York fashion, resilience is key for those navigating its demanding landscape.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
This interview is in good timing, as I’m in the midst of a career transition. Transitions are my best examples of “boldness” in my journey. I’m working in the arts through art dealing and my own creative practice. From the luxury apparel industry I transitioned into roles doing creative direction and brand building for fine furniture and interiors brands. I found my work and social circles often overlapping with fine art and with my education in the arts. All of those experiences and connections from apparel and interiors are proving beneficial on this new path.
Through the industry I met my partner, Leonardo Ledesma, founder of Art Seen, a Los Angeles based art firm he established in 1993. We have been collaborating more and as of 2024 I am fully devoted to Art Seen’s promotion and procurement. Leonardo and I live and breathe art and design. It’s exciting to boldly transition and build a life filled with more of what we love.
Apart from all of that I continue a creative practice as Sea Zeda Design and as a member of Attic Portrait, a multimedia artist duo composed of myself and Michelle Tift. We are active in the Inglewood Open Studios community and, since we joined forces in 2021, Attic Portrait has shown work at locations including The Ladies Room, LA Municipal Gallery, and G.O.H. Gallery 29 Palms. I love anything beautiful, interesting, experimental, well crafted and creative. Even more, I take joy in the people that come into my life through work. Please follow me for invitations to upcoming events and exhibitions for Art Seen, Attic Portrait, and more. I’d love to see you there.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
One quality I wished I would have learned earlier is the courage to go for what you really want. Don’t just apply to job boards, put yourself out there and contact the leaders of companies that you would like to join. Network and knock down doors. Don’t just wait for someone to open a door for you.
Curiosity is also an integral quality, taking me on adventures and exposing new opportunities. If you’re always curious about ideas, techniques, discoveries, history, culture, people, etc, you’re feeding your mind in ways that can only prove positive in expanding your perspective.
Overall, communication is key. Whether you’re working corporate, freelancing, or running your own business, if you can communicate effectively you are a million steps ahead. I still feel quite early in my journey and I’m also speaking to myself here to knock down more doors and push myself to bring my current goals to fruition.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
Anyone with an interest in art and design in Los Angeles or worldwide is welcome to say hi. Are you an artist or designer, a real estate developer or broker with clients who need art for their new home, a collector, or a business with bare walls in their lobby? If you know of spaces or individuals that are seeking art or curation of an exhibition I would be happy to learn more. I also enjoy events and networking, so please feel free to send me an invite even if it’s not directly arts related, but you think there could be overlap. I’d like to connect with new people.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.seazeda.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sea_zeda.diary/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seazeda/
Image Credits
Sea Zeda, Leonardo Ledesma, Carlos Gonzalez, Art Seen, Roza de Molina, 11 Ravens
