Meet Adam Zalabany

We recently connected with Adam Zalabany and have shared our conversation below.

Adam, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

It’s hard sometimes because the speed of digital life and events are constantly vying for my attention but I try to find focus on the small things in my daily, physical life that are beautiful or simple.
Of course, art-making is sort of this self-healing mechanism and so my primary discipline is in trying to sit down and actually draw, or create something in some way.
I’m always thinking creatively. Visually. Thinking about ideas and concepts. Sometimes that can lead to a creative paralysis through the overwhelm of possibilities and I think I’ve been in that state for a little while. But, as far as keeping a creative mind alive, I find that avoiding social media and any constant stream of entertainment away the most healthy. It’s really easy to get caught up in the algorithm and enter a constant feedback loop. For me, art is about communicating outward rather than consuming inwardly, and so I’m always aware of the amount I’m allowing myself to take in and that my consciousness is my greatest asset and I can’t let it be formed and informed by social media, social trends or the drug-like access we have to endless entertainment. I guess keeping a sense of exploration and variety in daily living is an important aspect as well. Being a little child-like in terms of seeking fun and following random curiosities and experiences has always paid back into my work processes.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’ve always been drawn to capturing personal truth—whether through painting, drawing, performance, or, more recently, exploring filmmaking. At its core, my interest in this new work is about observing and reflecting the realness in people—their nuances, their humanity, and the ways they move through the world. As everything around us becomes more digital and curated, I find myself more interested in what’s raw and authentic.

My shift into documentary/lifestyle videography was solidified in 2021 while I was in Florida. I was commissioned to film the ins and outs of a startup business, capturing their events and daily activities. That experience was eye-opening because it gave me this unique social position—I was around people intimately, but in an observational role, which allowed me to notice the subtleties of their personalities, their strengths, and how they naturally carried themselves. In a way, I ended up directing them without realizing it, simply by recognizing what made them compelling and shaping the footage around that.

I was given free rein to edit the content however I saw fit, as long as it served their business and events. That freedom really showed me the bridge between the seemingly mundane and the beautiful… those everyday interactions that tell a deeper story. That’s something I’m carrying forward into my new works.
I’ve found a lot of creative fulfillment in working with individuals and small businesses—helping them tell their story in a ways that feel real and impactful. There’s something about taking what already exists and shaping it into something meaningful, whether it’s through a documentary lens or a more stylized artistic approach.

At the same time, I’m still creating fine art, which has always been the most immediate and personal mode of expression for me. It’s an ongoing dialogue with myself—a footprint through time. My work has never been about selling or making a career out of it; it’s just something that continues. I’ve never been particularly social media-compliant, so I sell my pieces in person and through direct conversations with collectors and prospects. A few works can be found online at naturalculture.co, but for the most part, my art exists outside the algorithm, in real spaces, with real people.

My company, Natural Culture, is the home for all of this—art, filmmaking, consulting, and creative storytelling. Right now, I’m developing a new independent short film “Art-Her”, which is a somewhat biographical, documentary-style art film centered around a female movement artist in New York fighting the creative enslavement and suppression through her supposed mentor. This project will be diving deeper into blurring reality with abstract storytelling and physical movement as the primary emotional communication. I’m especially excited about this project because I get to work with my wife, Carissa, who is a phenomenal corporeal artist. We first worked together during a studio session at a theater in New York over a couple of days. That was really the first time I saw her in her true creative element and form. We pretty much just put a playlist on and she began to respond to the atmosphere through these poetic movements that were not exactly tied to the music itself but were completely symbiotic with it. I saw that she was able to convey so much emotion and depth of psychology through these fluid movements that registered as human symbology, transcendent of personal identity or individual details.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to end up capturing and was just trying to keep up with where she was moving and capture whatever I felt most important during each moment. It wasn’t until we got home and looked at the footage and found we’d stumbled upon something really beautiful. I’m a very critical artist especially of my own work, however the collaboration blew me away and brought me to tears because it was a new medium I couldn’t have anticipated in yielding such depth and emotional resonance. Of course there is also the satisfaction in creating something beautiful with someone you love and the surprise that comes with trusting that person as a creative collaborator in situations where you can both be vulnerable and without expectation. I see more of these projects in the future, blending aspects of live performance with more filmic elements.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

As far as areas of knowledge go, I’ve always had an innate interest in philosophy, and in some sense, mysticism on my search for wisdom and understanding. I’d carry a copy of the Tao around with me when I lived in California. Between sessions of creative expression and existential questioning about my journey and the search for meaning, this book always brought me back to a centered, peaceful point of view. It was very easy to read the poetic, aphoristic style of wisdom and yet it would always allow for deep thinking in order to truly understand what was said in so few words.

I think the artistic journey, or perhaps, the life journey itself, is so nebulous that simple tools like having a consistent reference or still point you can relate to or find wisdom in is important in order to keep some kind of grounding. I still have the book. My copy is so worn in that both the front and back cover have fallen off. I like it better that way.

When I think of the word “skill” I immediately think of the practical skills involved in something like drawing and painting because my primary medium was ink on paper for so long (and still is in many ways), but when I think a little more about it I suppose I would want to talk about the mental skills involved in discernment and decision-making. When you’re making any kind of art, or expressing in any way really, it is easy to over do it. To keep compensating for some personal inadequacy that could just be covered up by more words, more articulation, more ink, better detail… and yet, keeping it simple is often the best, most profound way of doing things. But also the most difficult.

The aspect of recognizing when I’m doing something with a linear mind and “trying” to draw something has been something I’ve been cognizant of for some time. I think that a lot of my best illustrative work are the ones I couldn’t replicate because they were so idiosyncratic and intuitive that it was clear there was no real aspect of my boring, everyday thoughts in there. And it’s those pieces… those moments where I feel most like they are snapshots of my psyche rather than some egoic expression rather than that of a still mind. In some ways, having an art practice (or any personal discipline or practice) is like a meditation or a prayer. It’s a space where you are able to step out of the congested daily existence and express freely without cause or expectation.

I’d say to anyone early on their journey, to use their practice as a means of personal learning and not to judge themselves, or the outcome of their efforts too harshly. Experiencing the process itself is so important. Be a human who makes art rather than limiting yourself by the label of “being an artist”. And no matter what your particular medium or style is right now, allow it to evolve, adapt or totally change later down the line.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

It’s always been myself. My mind. And that’s been the journey, somehow trying to transcend or quiet my own internal dialogues and perceived limitations. Maybe that never completely goes away, but to a great extent I’ve learned to develop my relationship with it, so that it’s not hinderance, and something that’s in balance with the more intuitive, and natural aspects of my mind and ways of thinking about myself and others.

For the most part I live a practical, offline life. My art, my sales and my commissions all occur around my direct surroundings, word-of-mouth and personal connection. I had tried to fit in and keep up with the algorithms and present myself digitally, and while I do of course still do so in some capacity, I have never derived enough satisfaction or happiness from trying to keep up with digitizing my humanity. I enjoy a simple life and appreciate the art in daily living and the processes that come with it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://naturalculture.co
• Instagram: @adamzalabany

Image Credits

Natural Culture