We were lucky to catch up with Moosa Khan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Moosa with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
I once read, “Be disciplined in your daily life so you can be destructive in your practice.” Safe to say, that didn’t pan out quite like I imagined. For me, creativity and work ethic come more from a mix of excitement, boredom, and accidental creation. It’s those random sparks—when I’m not even trying—that usually lead to my best ideas.
That being said, inspiration has to find working. So while there may be a straightforward process to creativity where it’s the work that leads you to a better destination, it’s the confusion that leads to a more interesting destination.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I have always been a big fan of squash and stretch transition frames in animation. I feel as if the chaos of these frames gradually gives way to order, where shapes and shadows begin to tell their own stories. Good storytelling in my opinion isn’t about individuality, it’s about finding a way to calm the anxieties we all carry. I am inspired by art tinged with a certain sense of melancholy, like a coffee stain on a drawing one might have been working.
Embracing the idea of making interesting chaotic marks such as the in between experimental frames of an animation can be a powerful approach. In a digital world that often prizes perfection and clean design, I encourage myself and my students to make ‘interesting’ marks over the ‘correct’ ones. It opens up space for creativity, allowing imperfections and unexpected elements to become part of the narrative.
How does one take these mistakes and transcend it into one inky stroke of happiness and revolt. Perhaps even love. Like a tangerine bit and the leaks of fluids in your mouth. It leaves a certain taste in your mouth each time. And if one can transcend beyond one’s tastes, we could surely experience some new flavors.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think the three qualities that have helped me the most are perseverance, grit, and the courage to dive into the unfamiliar. My most productive times have often been those that followed moments of boredom, after going through a series of events. Those quiet times give me space to reflect and reconnect with my journey, allowing me to tap into the emotions tied to it.
If I had any advice for the modern artist, it would be to face boredom and loneliness with the understanding that these moments can be the foundation for something new. You have to get absorbed but not so much so that you lack the vision to plan ahead.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
James Victore’s ‘Feck Perfuction’ is a book that resonated with me on a deep level. It’s not just a call to embrace imperfection but an invitation to break free from the obsessive pursuit of flawless design. Victore challenges us to throw out the conventional idea that everything has to be pristine. I derive a lot of inspiration in my work from this, where its fresh yet dirty.
The obsession with perfection is that it can paralyze your work. Not to mention your personality. So it’s a universal sort of knowledge that can be applied to most areas of life.
One of my favorite quotes by him was ‘In particular lies the universal’. Which propelled me to look inside and find inspiration instead of flooding my images of what’s present on the internet or instagram.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://moosakhan.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moosasamosa/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moosasamosa/
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