“My art transcends boundaries and cultures, touch peoples innermost emotions to ignite a sense of collective purpose”
Enter the world of Zato (Zahra Fakih)
Why Zato Stands Out
Zahra Fakih, known artistically as Zato, creates work that resonates on several intertwined levels, making it compelling for both collectors and art lovers. Her paintings are immediately recognisable for their vivid colours, intricate patterns and symbolic motifs. She describes her own practice as “weaving together vibrant colours, intricate patterns and symbolic imagery … for a message of joy and harmony,” a statement that accurately reflects the visual richness and emotional charge of her pieces. This layered aesthetic gives her work presence: it holds attention, rewards repeated viewing and brings energy into any space.
What elevates Fakih’s work beyond visual appeal is the depth of intention behind it. She places healing, unity and inclusivity at the heart of her artistic mission, noting that “art has the power to heal and unite,” and that these values guide her creative vocabulary. Her paintings therefore carry a sense of purpose, they are not simply decorative, but expressions of optimism, resilience and connection. For collectors who seek meaning in the work they acquire, this philosophical clarity adds an important dimension.
Her background, Sierra Leonean and Lebanese, informs this perspective. Zato’s art often touches on identity, belonging and cultural coexistence, infusing her pieces with narrative richness while still leaving space for viewer interpretation. This balance of specificity and universality is a quality collectors frequently prize.At the same time, Fakih is an artist in ascendance. Exhibitions in Sierra Leone and Dubai, along with collaborations with organisations such as Empower Africa, signal an emerging career with the potential for growth. A moment many collectors watch closely.
For Fakih herself, art is both a bridge and a catalyst: a way to challenge norms, “shatter preconceived notions,” and offer “hope for a brighter future.” That sincerity underpins the strength of her work and makes it especially resonant for audiences today
Artist • Art Educator • Therapeutic Arts Life Coach
Zato’s creative path began six years ago in Sierra Leone, not in art school (there are none), but through the silent search for healing. Art offered her solace amidst hardship, a way to process pain and reclaim her identity. What started as survival soon bloomed into purpose, guiding her to color, form, and creative expression.
Rooted in both African and Lebanese heritage, her work weaves ancestral narratives, cultural resilience, and vibrant symbolism. Fully self-taught, she’s already participated in 14 exhibitions in Sierra Leone and one in Dubai, asserting her voice across local and international stages.
More than a visual artist, Zato is a catalyst for transformation. As a certified therapeutic arts life coach and educator, she channels her healing journey into workshops that nurture emotional intelligence and self-worth, especially among marginalized youth and juveniles. Through art, she offers both a mirror and a seed for tools to foster healing and growth.
Her creative process is intuitive and spiritual, centered on a variety of media, whether acrylic markers, or digital and all to produce flowing patterns that move as much as they are felt. Each artistic act is an emotional imprint, each piece an alchemy of chaos transformed into clarity.
Her four pillars - cultural expression, women’s empowerment, healing, and community service - are more than themes; they are embodied values guiding her work in studio, classroom, and community.
Zato believes: “Every child is an artist... we raise thinkers, dreamers, and problem-solvers.” Through art, she’s nurturing not only creativity, but resilience, hope, and a better future for Sierra Leone and beyond.
“Art gives me the language I never had - each work is conversation with myself and statement of resilience and rebirth.”
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“Zato is a visionary artist seeking to challenge norms, break barriers & shatter preconceived notions through her creations.“
Empower Africa
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“Her mission is to change the world, and the way we perceive it, through her creations, one painting at a time.”
Gulf Today
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“Believing in the unifying and healing power of art, Zato’s work sparks conversations centred on peace, love, and unity.”
Urbanist Gallery, Dubai
The Art of Zato - Coming Soon
Hear the Artist - In Her Own Voice
I am Zato, an artist from Sierra Leone. My journey with art began six years ago, not with the intention of becoming an artist, but as a way to heal. At a time when words failed me, art became my refuge, a space where I could express what I carried inside. Through color, texture, and form, I began to reconnect with myself, piece by piece. What started as a personal practice of survival grew into a deep calling to create and to serve.
Today, I am not only a visual artist but also an art teacher and a certified therapeutic arts life coach. I have participated in numerous group exhibitions, sharing my work as an offering, a visual diary of healing, transformation, and truth. My four foundational pillars as an artist are cultural expression (deeply rooted in both my African and Lebanese heritage), women empowerment, healing, and community service. These values guide everything I do, from the classroom to community workshops, and especially in my work with juveniles, where I use art as a tool to inspire growth, resilience, and self-awareness.
My creative process is deeply intuitive and spiritual. In the beginning, I explored many different media, allowing myself the freedom to play and experiment. Over time, I discovered a powerful connection with acrylic markers, and they have since become my medium of choice. I am drawn to vibrant, flowing patterns, forms that seem to move through me rather than come from me. These patterns are more than aesthetic; they are emotional currents, energetic imprints of my lived experiences.
Creating art brings me profound joy. It is my alchemy, my way of turning pain into beauty, chaos into clarity, and emotion into healing. Through every piece, I process my journey and allow my soul to breathe. It is this same process that inspires my teaching and coaching work: to help others discover their own power to heal and express through art.
The works I present in this exhibition are reflections of that ongoing journey, windows into a life shaped, soothed, and strengthened by creativity. Each pattern, each color, carries meaning, memory, and transformation. This is how I heal. This is how I connect. This is how I serve.