Aneesa Shami is an artist researcher based in Los Angeles using recycled materials to create fiber art. Her work references the sublime and world mythologies to evoke a sense of the collective unconscious. Shami holds Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in both Fiber and Art History from the Kansas City Art Institute. She was the Textile Arts | Los Angeles AIR at Helms Design Center in 2018, and was a Fellow for the Mildred’s Attention Labs: Lane Order of the Third Bird 2015. Her work has been exhibited nationally in galleries and museums, including the Torrance Art Museum in Torrance, CA, and the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art in San Luis Obispo, CA. Aneesa Shami is also the co-owner and director of Studio 203, an artist-run space in Los Angeles that collaborates with artists to create exhibitions and host workshops and performances.

“Re-purposing material is an important part of my practice, and textiles speak to me the most. Currently, I am working with fabric samples from a local design firm in Los Angeles, and use traditional applique techniques to mimic the informal look of collage. Referencing my first trip to Lebanon, I depict specific historical sites and blend them with imagery from Islamic folklore. These abstracted landscapes have formed a new, personal mythos, combining my memories with illustrations of angels, jinn, and the imaginal realm they live in.

Each piece speaks to a larger understanding that we are all fundamentally human. I try to utilize universal themes that most people can connect to: referencing the sublime, world mythologies and an otherworldly sense of the human conscious and subconscious. I want to connect with others on a visceral level through the use of formal elements: movement, color, and form. I hope my work evokes a larger understanding that we are all human and we are all connected.”

– Aneesa Shami

On display at Helms Design Center beginning 6.26.20

A Year-Long Art Installation + Grant Program
In an effort to find comfort and connectedness through art, architecture, and design, Helms Bakery District in partnership with the Culver City Arts Foundation, is hosting and curating Projecting Possibilities, a video installation featuring a new artist each week for 52 weeks, an entire year of rotating digital art exhibitions to celebrate, nourish, support, and promote artists.
Art restores our souls, eases our worry, grief, and isolation. Art inspires, educates, and delights. Art embraces and quiets us in our time of need. This program is designed to cultivate creativity and encourage community connection through arts and culture.
#projectingpossibilities

https://helmsbakerydistrict.com/projecting-possibilities/aneesa-shami/