Seema Shah: Something Big and Invisible

Bio: Seema Shah is a self-taught collage artist and writer. Her artwork has been included in several group exhibitions, including shows in Canada, the US, and the UK. Seema had her first solo exhibition in April 2023 at The Beaumont Studios in Vancouver and was a recipient of The Beaumont Studios’ 2022 Artist To Watch Award. She was also a highly commended artist in the 2022 and 2023 Contemporary Collage Magazine Awards. Her poetry and creative nonfiction have been published in literary journals and anthologies, and she was longlisted for the Susan Crean Award for Nonfiction 2023.

Seema lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Artist Statement: Working mostly in the medium of collage, I piece together narratives that are dark and questioning. My creative process is one of self-discovery, a process guided by the subconscious. I work intuitively, drawn to images, colours, and words that speak to me in the moment, even if I don’t understand why. Hinting at something deeper, meaning is expressed obliquely in my work through the use of metaphor – and, at times, even humour – creating distance and allowing viewers to find their own connection to it.

Artworks in the Attic and Rooftop of SHG1

^{_{‘Beneath’ – collage on paper (shipping tag) 1.25” x 2.75” – Photo by the artist}}

_{^{Untitled assemblage (‘Tag diptych’ on ‘Coat rack’) – mixed media collage on paper shipping tags x2; wire, plastic doll clothes hangers Tags (ea) 1.25” x 2.75” ; wire rack 4.5” x 3.5” – This work is actually an assemblage of two separate works: ‘Coat rack’ and ‘Tag diptych’}}

^{_{‘Searching’ – mixed media collage on paper 3 x 3.5 ins – Photo by the artist}}

^{_{‘In the Dark (matchbox)’ – mixed media collage on paper (matchbox) 2 x 1.5 x 0.5 ins. Photo by the artist}}

^{_{Verso of ‘In the Dark (matchbox)’}} ^_– ^{_{Photo by the artist}}

Artwork in the First Floor Stairwell

Installation View of the show in the Attic and on the First Floor of SHG1

Works in the left-hand Gallery on the First Floor

^{_{‘Untitled (slide with face)’ – mixed media on photographic slide 2 in. sq. Photo by the artist}}

^{_{‘You Bet There Were Tears’ – mixed media collage on paper 4 x 2.75 ins. Photo by the artist}}

^{_{‘Something Big and Invisible (matchbox sitting on wooden block)’ – mixed media collage on paper (matchbox) + wooden block 1.25” x 2” x 0.5” [+ block = 1”^₃]}}

^{_{Ghost Bunny (shipping tag on wire stand) – mixed media collage on paper (shipping tag) 1.25” x 2.75” [+ stand h = 2.25”]}}

^{_{‘Untitled – standing bunny’ – mixed media collage on paper 4 x 3 ins. Photo by the artist}}

Works in the right-hand Gallery on the First Floor

Above: A recording of Seema Shah reading the cut-up poem of the collage of the same title: The Dirt Beneath My Feet

^{_{‘The Dirt Under My Feet (cut-up poem)’ – mixed media collage on paper 4.6 x 4 ins. Photo by the artist}}

_{^{‘Please Clean Up the Debris (matchbox)’ – collage on paper (matchbox) 2 x 1.5 x 0.5 in}}

_{^{‘We Know (“paper doll” bunny)’ – collage on paper 3.75” x 4.5”}}

^{_{‘Untitled (shipping tag with arrow)’ – mixed media collage on paper shipping tag 2.75” x 1.25” Photo by the artist}}

Three-floor installation view of SOMETHING BIG AND INVISIBLE in SHG1

Slide the slider up and down to compare two photos taken at slightly different angles

Works in the left-hand Gallery on the Ground Floor

_{^{Photo by the artist‘When the Flame Meets the Air’ – mixed media collage on paper 4×6 ins. Photo by the artist}}

^{_{‘Jealous Bunny’ – marker on paper 4.5 x 5.5 ins. Photo by the artist}}

_{^{‘Tag with Person” & ‘STOP’ – mixed media on shipping tags Both: 2.75 x 1.25 ins}}

^{_{‘Stop’ – mixed media collage on paper (shipping tag) 1.25 x 2.75 ins. Photo by the artist}}

^{_{‘Tag with Person’ – mixed media on shipping tag 2.75 x 1.25 ins. Photo by the artist}}

Artwork in the Ground Floor Stairwell

^{_{‘A Remote Corner (matchbox)’ – mixed media collage on paper (matchbox) 2 x 1.5 x 0.5 ins. Photo by the artist}}

_{^{‘A Remote Corner (matchbox)’ – mixed media collage on paper (matchbox) 2 x 1.5 x 0.5 inches}}

Works in the right-hand Gallery on the Ground Floor

_{^{‘Trapped (shipping tag)’ – mixed media collage on paper (shipping tag) 1.25” x 2.75”}}

^{_{‘Old’ – mixed media collage on paper 4.5” x 4.5”}}

_{^{‘Time Hangs Frozen (matchbox)‘ – mixed media collage on paper (matchbox) 2”x1.5”x0.5”}}

_{^{‘Deeper Troubles (matchbox) – collage on paper (matchbox) 2”x1.5”x0.5”}}

Artwork outside the house

^{_{‘Are You Ok? (matchbox)’ – mixed media collage on paper (matchbox) 2 x 1.5 x 0.5 ins. Photo by the artist}}

All these artworks are for sale. DM the artist Seema Shah via instagram @tellingitslant

shg-artwork-details-updated-mar-24 Download

BONUS MATERIAL: Eldi’s Spotify Playlist for curating this webpage for Seema Shah’s SOMETHING BIG AND INVISIBLE

Perhaps visitors would like to give it a listen while looking at the images for another experience viewing the show

Note: Unfortunately, this embedded Spotify playlist will only play short snippets of the songs. If you want to hear the complete list with the songs in their entirety, log into your own Spotify account and keep it open in another window while you scroll through the works on this website.

BONUS MATERIAL: An interview between the Artist and the Curator

[Currently in post-production. Please check back at a later date]

BONUS MATERIAL: Receiving the Artworks

I really appreciated the thoughtful and organised care that Seema put into packing her work up to send across the pond. It was both touching, and super helpful for installing the show as closely to Seema’s original vision as possible. ~ Eldi

BONUS MATERIAL: Initial conversations regarding the Artworks

In the development of the exhibition back in her Vancouver studio, Seema had picked up a dollhouse that had a similar layout, if different dimensions to Small House Gallery One, and she initially used that as a model to begin working out which artworks would go together in which rooms, and experimenting with inventive DIY display systems.

She eventually built a more accurately sized maquette of the rooms in a cardboard crate to help her hone the tableaux for each room and floor.

The installations you see in Small House Gallery One today are based on these images.

The resulting exhibition is a well-balanced house-wide installation that functions as individual set pieces in each of the rooms, and communicates the varying layers of conscious and unconscious awareness of the human psyche across the various floors (and in dark hidden corners) as per the artist’s original proposal, but it also functions (very satisfyingly) as a three-dimensional mixed-media collage across the entirety of the house.