Niki Zarrabi likes to think big.
She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a Concentration in Drawing and Painting from Georgia State University in 2014 and when she was contacted by Jamestown Development to create a mural for Buckhead Village last summer, she wandered over to the shopping district on Peachtree and started to dream. Big.
Her work is a 20’ x 14’ mural behind Le Bilboquet, next to COS. A nod to the traditional still-life style of oil painting with a refreshing and contemporary twist, the mural alludes to floral prints in fashion and serves as a timeless, elegant backdrop for shopping and dining.
Niki is a first generation Iranian-American, mixed media artist who lives in Garden Hills. Her work ranges from painting and installation to large-scale mural work. The mural is part of Zarrabi’s series of botanical paintings, titled 'Femme Petale.’ These surrealist paintings push the idea of reincarnation as represented by flowers, seeing as plants are continually in a state of living and dying. The floral arrangements are illustrated as "melting" to represent a return back to the earth while the flowers represent life itself. Zarrabi’s murals can be found throughout Atlanta and the country, from North Carolina to California.
Here in Buckhead, she and her fiancé moved from a studio apartment on Peachtree Rd. to their first home in Garden Hills. She has a home studio and he works in Buckhead. “It's been great for both of us. We are already so rooted in the area, it just feels like home now,” she says.”I love walking my dog through Garden Hills and up to Dancing Goats for a coffee in the mornings. We've got our usual spots for take-out when we're feeling a lazy night-in (La Fonda on Piedmont and Shake Shack are our faves!). Anis Cafe & Bistro off Pharr Road is for special nights. “For shopping gifts, I love popping into Pollen, a quirky nursery and boutique that sells a range of house plants and hand-crafted home goods. Another hidden gem for shopping is Boxwoods in East Andrews as well as Lucy's Market next door.”
