Saanenland calling

Recently relocated from her home of four decades – London – she has settled full time in the Saanenland to concentrate on research for projects dedicated to art and culture while exhibiting her artwork in Switzerland.

Fleeing the hustle and bustle of the big city, Owji now wakes to the sound of tinkling cowbells and the smell of wildflowers. It’s a change she is thrilled about.

Owji has founded an art association in the Saanenland, as well as two studios in Saanen and Gstaad, where she exhibits a selection of her couture as well as paintings and sculptures, and is able to work with a limited selection of couture clients. From her deep blue oceanscape paintings to sleek bronzes, Owji aims to convey the “poetry” evident in nature around us.

“My work represents emotions,” explains Owji, “I like to immerse my fine art with subtly interwoven philosophy that speaks directly to the hearts of viewers,” she says, with a twinkle in her warm hazelnut gaze.

But there is more to Maryam than meets the eye.

Heart and heritage

Owji was born in Shiraz – one of the oldest cities of ancient Persia – and her love for the arts began at an early age. While mastering designing and drawing, she also studied mathematics and all forms of art, continuously motivated by the beauty of music, painting, architecture, sculpture, and textiles. Maryam discovered a love for chess in high school and won the junior championships in her hometown in 1972. Her fame grew, and Owji was offered a unique invitation – an internship with Irano-British bank Shiraz Branch, a collaboration of the national bank of Iran and the British Standard Chartered Bank.

Proving yet again she had both arts and sciences in her repertoire, she developed operations for the computerised banking system with account memory, which was highly unusual for a teenage girl in Iran at the time. Continuing her education  while working, Owji later graduated at the top of her class with distinction with a degree in couture design from Khayam School of Art in Shiraz and later Banafshe Institute of Art and Design in Tehran.

Heeding the call to expand her horizons, she moved with her family to the UK in 1976, where she continued to develop her many talents. With Owji’s brainy streak evident, she expanded into other areas with a postgraduate diploma from the London School of Journalism and obtained a master’s degree in graphic design from the University of Arts in London.

Dress to impress

Owji cuts a fine figure, dressed in a luxurious silk skirt exquisitely tailored to silhouette her petite stature. The look is dramatic, yet elegant… and oddly familiar. So it comes as no surprise to learn that Owji’s style should indeed be familiar to anyone who lived through the 1980s. As a couturier, she was the personal designer of none other than the inimitable Joan Collins, the star of the hit American television show Dynasty. Collins was a fashion legend, sporting form-fitting dresses and boleros in expensive fabrics in that 80s style that is now iconic.

Her couture masterpieces grew in popularity until she was sought-after in international circles. In addition to Joan Collins, Owji’s career as a private couturier in London allowed her to work with Baroness di Portanova, Britt Ekland, Princess Firyal of Jordan, and numerous other European royal family members.

Meanwhile, Owji is taking her life at the pace prescribed by the region’s official motto, “Come up, slow down.” With time – and creativity – on her hands, she is discovering all Gstaad has to offer, from cultural events to the call of Mother Nature.

“Life in the Gstaad area is really diverse, which gives it a unique ambiance,” says Owji.

It’s this same ambiance that has been drawing artists, musicians, and intellectuals to the Saanenland for nearly one hundred years. She may not be the first, and she certainly won’t be the last, but if her work is any indication, Owji will add yet another beautifully coloured square to the quilt of life here in Gstaad.

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Owji’s work can currently be seen during a private viewing at the Mount10 Swiss Reserve, in a rotating exhibit featuring some of her most famous pieces with presentations of her couture in collaboration with artists Bernd Schwarzer and Gabriel Sainz from Argentina in Saanen. An exhibition in The Alpina Gstaad during the month of August 2017 will also be held.

www.mount10.ch  www.maryamowji.com  www.internationalartclub.co.uk