Shaheer Zazai | FS1-222.8-NEP

Shaheer Zazai

FS1-222.8-NEP

Sackville, Canada: Nothing Else Press, 2023

152 x 19 cm. 

Edition of 50

The Nothing Else Press is pleased to announce, FS1-222.8-NEP, a new woven scarf by Shaheer Zazai. The work is an extension of his practice of creating elaborate digital compositions using the character and highlighter functions of Microsoft Word. The resulting graphic images, inspired by traditional Afghan carpet patterns, mimic textile-making methods where every knot of a carpet is translated into a typed character. This relationship between his gridded compositions and weaving processes is translated into a wearable object.

Shaheer Zazai is a multidisciplinary Afghan-Canadian artist based in Cyprus. He is known for digital works that use thousands of individual, manual keystrokes in Microsoft Word to mimic traditional Afghan carpet-making techniques. More recently, he has expanded his practice to include textiles, translating his digital works into jacquard weavings. His practice focuses on exploring and attempting to investigate the development of cultural identity in the present geopolitical climate and diaspora.

Zazai graduated from OCADU in 2011 and was a finalist for EQ Bank’s Emerging Digital Artist Award in 2018. He has exhibited widely across Canada and abroad including recent exhibitions at The Power Plant Contemporary (Toronto); The Textile Museum (Toronto); The Aga Khan Museum (Toronto); Patel Brown (Montreal); Owens Art Gallery (Sackville); Libby Leshgold Gallery & Emily Carr University (Vancouver); FSU Museum of Fine Art (Tallahassee); CAFKA Biennial 2019 (Kitchener), Glenhyrst Art Gallery (Brantford), and the Art Gallery of Mississauga. www.shaheerzazai.com

The work is available from the Nothing Else Press website, alongside projects by David Shrigley, Kelly Mark, Micah Lexier, Jonathan Monk, Vanessa Maltese, Jon Sasaki, Aleksandra Mir, Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber, etc. etc., here: http://www.nothingelsepress.com. 

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"In a very broad way, my work is an exploration into the development of cultural identity in the present geopolitical climate and diaspora. 

[...]

I often describe my process as the surrealist drawing technique of Exquisite Corpse drawing mixed with Tetris. I am Tetris-ing shapes together while troubleshooting my limits as I work through the page. I don’t know what the outcomes will be, and this is what drives me to continue testing and experimenting.”

- Shaheer Zazai