Maryam is an artist and illustrator from Toronto, working in a variety of mediums, both traditional and digital. Many of her paintings are landscapes, inspired by her surroundings and the natural world. The rest are from imagination... often depicting libraries, bridges, forests, trains, dream worlds, and places in between.
Maryam is deeply inspired by nature, music, books, as well as her background in the sciences. She studied neuroscience and cognitive science at the University of Toronto before pursuing illustration at Seneca College’s Independent Illustration program.
Shortly after graduating, in 2020, everything changed. Maryam's artistic practice was put on pause for years due to serious illness. In 2024 a medication changed everything once again. Since then it's been a slow recovery. But being able to paint again has been an absolute joy. Maryam is rebuilding her creative practice, finding a way to communicate what she has learned in the years spent underground, and re-entering the world.
Group Exhibitions and Art Shows
“Mississauga Art in the Park 2026”, Riverdale Park, September 20 2026
“Mississauga Comic Expo” at Mississauga Central Library, October 19 2019
Canzine at Art Gallery of Ontario, September 14 2019
“Seneca Coalesce 2019” at Steamwhistle Roundhouse, Toronto, May 7 2019
“Seneca College Independent Illustration Graduation Exhibition” at Artscape Youngplace, Toronto, April 19 - 27 2019
“Toronto Art Crawl Spring Pop-up” at The Great Hall, Toronto, April 8 2018
”Words to Pictures” at Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA), Brampton, January 27 - March 18 2018
Awards
Broken Pencil Zine Awards, Finalist for Best Comic Zine (Dreamscapes)
Publications
Illustration
The Pond Comic Anthology #3, Seneca College
Research
Zhu K, Bradley TD, Patel M, Alshaer H. Influence of head position on obstructive sleep apnea severity. Sleep and Breathing. 2017;21(4):821-828.
Maal-Bared G, et al. Connexin-36-positive gap junctions in ventral tegmental area GABA neurons sustain opiate dependence. European Journal of Neuroscience. 2024;59(12):3422-3444.