shemza.digital #13-#15, 2023

Aphra Shemza, Stuart Batchelor, Peter Todd and AJ Bravo in collaboration with the public

Commissioned by Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art

Materials: Film and digital printed window vinyl

Dimensions: Dimensions variable and 820 x 82cms

Image: shemza.digital #15 installed on MIMA's facade.

Image: Participant's digital painting in the workshop. Images courtesy of MIMA.

Aphra Shemza is a UK-based multimedia artist and activist. She is the granddaughter of well-known abstract painter Anwar Jalal Shemza (1928-1985), whose work Magic Spiral (1970) is held in the Middlesbrough Collection. Her work explores Modernism, her Islamic cultural heritage, sustainable practice and art for all.

In February 2023, Aphra worked with students from the School of Arts & Creative Industries, Teesside University and publics for a series of workshops working with a bespoke digital painting application to experiment with Anwar Shemza’s square and circle ‘squircle’ motif. Participants created digital tiles which were drawn together by Aphra and shared as an animation on YouTube and a window vinyl on MIMA’s Roof Terrace.

Part of an ongoing Arts Council funded project, shemza.digital is a collaboration with computer artist Stuart Batchelor and uses digital media, sculpture and light to create captivating immersive installations inspired by Anwar Jalal Shemza’s abstract forms. The project uses Shemza’s work to continue his aesthetic exploration and highlight the importance of migrant artists in British Art History.

Click HERE to read Aphra Shemza’s Hearing From Artists interview.

shemza.digital #13 and #14, 2023.