AM/PM WITH MARYAM KEYHANI
16 HOURS WITH THE BERLIN-BASED ARTIST AND MOTHER OF TWO
To peruse Maryam’s Instagram account is to enter a fantasy world...a surrealist vision that successfully fuses a joyful, feminine aesthetic with a Victorian, gothic edge. Milliner, painter, sculptor, wife and mother of two, Maryam wears many hats (fabulous, magnificent hats). The Iranian-born artist is currently in lockdown quarantined with her family in Berlin. We caught up with her, where she offered us a snapshot into how she spends her days. Days spent moving between her creative and domestic lives, blending the two when possible, and often, like many of us just trying to survive.
7am
We’re all in survival mode at the moment. I’ve been co-sleeping with Dali and he wakes up around 7. Rumi wakes earlier than everyone else, so by this time she’s already watched her hour of cartoons. Then we usually have breakfast together.
Since working from home, Ali and I take shifts. I have the nights, he has the mornings. Sometimes we trade. We usually have breakfast together. I’ve set up a studio at the house so I paint for a couple of hours in the morning while the kids just kind of hang out. We have completely given up on homeschooling. If we’re able to get one assignment finished and get ona call with a teacher, we’ve had a pretty good day. Again, at this point it’s really about survival. I care more about us being a sane household than trying to do everything.
11am
The kids tend to eat lunch quite early. I start preparing something quick and light around 11:30, or we just have leftovers from the night before. After lunch I try to get an hour of time with Rumi while Dali naps. We either just hang out, or Ali takes Rumi out to get some sort of physical activity.
3pm
I try to do something creative with the kids...painting, drawing, whatever they’re into that day. That is if we’re not spending the entire afternoon screaming at each other or having major meltdowns, which tends to happen a lot these days.
4pm
I start prepping dinner before I crash and start getting super tired. I’ve been making a lot of Persian food, which takes a relatively long time to cook. If I’m cooking a complicated dish I start cooking around 3, and in between I paint and finish off projects I’ve started during the day.
6pm
Dinnertime and then the kids get about an hour of screen time (probably even a bit longer these days). Usually Ali will take the kids for a quick walk before bed, while I tidy up after dinner. Then the kids take a long bath which is just so relaxing for everybody. They can entertain themselves and Ali and I pour ourselves a glass of wine, sit by the bathtub and just hang out.
7:30pm
Unfortunately, sleep routines are quite long for us. I start putting the kids to bed around 7:30, and I’m usually out of their bedroom around 9:00. I spend about 2 hours going from one story to another. Even though it’s annoying to be in there for that long, I also find it a very special time. Everyone is mellow and we get to chat and sing. And it’s really lovely.
9:00pm
After that I finish up my work and clean up my work station. I also do quite a bit of emailing, especially these days since I don’t have an assistant and I’m not going to the studio. Sometimes Ali helps me with shipping and invoicing and things like that. Then I’ll take care of social media...I just love Instagram. I find the creative community so inspiring, and of course it helps to get my work out there. I usually do my instagramming while we’re watching a movie in the background. And since we eat dinner so early, Ali prepares a light snack as a late dinner around 9:30 or 10. And that’s it. Then I’m off to bed!
