DC's Classic Designs

Growing up in a world mixed with magic, art and technology, A. Saleem has always worked toward bringing his greatest passions together in a manner that would allow his creativity to be expressed in multi-sensory and often, enchanting ways. As a child, drawing, sketching and painting took up much of his time. The rest of his leisure was filled with books about magic, experiencing shows of the great performers of his childhood and performing illusions himself as a physical outlet for his creative thirst. As he grew up, never letting go of that paintbrush, he strived toward illustrating and creating increasingly realistic works of art, often involving illusionary concepts and surrealistic undertones. With his first personal computer in 1987, A. began to use some of the most primordial graphics software to further enhance the realism of his artwork. With only mid 80’s hardware and a 40 megabyte hard-drive, the digital process was tedious, but proved to be an effective tool. His paintbrush had to now share his hand with the computer mouse. Digital media allowed his surreal works to be more realistic, enhancing the believability of their inherent illusions. Sculpture later followed, allowing for more dynamic and interactive works which brought his two dimensional concepts into a more tangible reality. His level of understanding in magic, illusion and the creative arts began to form a unique dance of multi-disciplinary expression which allowed A. to start performing professionally while further merging his various forms of creativity. His professional magic debut began with a performance at the oldest operating baseball grounds in the world, Labatt Memorial Park, in Ontario, Canada in 1999. He has since performed at numerous events throughout Ontario, always presenting his illusions as a true art-form rather than a tool for deception. Magic, illusion and performance continued to play a critical role in his creative process while technology and innovation became increasingly important tools for both creation and presentation. Education at both college and university levels gave the artist practical, as well as historic and theoretical insights into his creative passions. Integrating this new found knowledge with his existing toolset allowed him to win numerous awards such as at ‘The League for Innovation’, held in Etobicoke, Ontario in 2000, as well as over 40 International Multimedia Competitions. A. is currently included in the Hall of Fame at the highly acclaimed Worth 1000 Multimedia Competition and has had his work published in various media including the popular tutorials textbook published by Thompson Course Technology titled, “(When Pancakes Go Bad) - Optical Delusions with Adobe Photoshop”. Launching his own studio in 2002, A. Saleem began to apply his unique use of multimedia and magic to produce original, fresh and innovative media applications, special effects and commercial design, often utilizing his understanding of illusion to achieve exceedingly high realism in his work. Teaching has always been important to A. as he openly mentors multimedia-graphic professionals online as well as magic enthusiasts and performers. When doing so, his process involves providing the artist with the understanding of the tools - not the secrets or shortcuts, for creating and presenting their art. Critical reasoning skills, creative ambition, problem solving, craftsmanship and presentation are among the tools A. values most. Although A. Saleem has settled down, gotten married and currently works a 9-5 job as a full-time MultiMedia producer, he continues to focus on his magic, both performance and arts after-hours. He has recently developed an original product line in conjunction with Destination Creation, of effects and props which he developed and manufactured in Canada which consist of creatively designed, high quality, innovative tools, useful to assist in achieving impossible effects that can be as unique as each performer. Whether in his hand is a deck of cards, paintbrush, a lump of clay or a graphics tablet, A. Saleem will undoubtedly produce a form of creative impossibility in a highly convincing manner. As long as he is on stage, with friends or in his studio, he will always have a reason to astound.