Shamira Wilson

The work that I have chosen to share for the Religion Spirituality and Arts Seminar is a meditative visual exploration of contrast, organic shapes, and fluid lines, inspired by the stories of floods and deluges. In this work I’m visually contemplating the contrast created during, and as a result of, tumultuous times and the hope for renewal and celebration that comes after.

Cadence of Hope

My experience with the Religion, Spirituality, and Arts Seminar has expanded my exposure to sacred texts. Through the lens of Noah's Ark, RSA has opened my eyes to new ways to think about language and how art - visual, written, sound - can facilitate our understanding of the world and each other through these texts. As a visual artist participating in the seminar, I found it particularly useful and informative to be in the company of other artists and visual thinkers while dissecting these texts. 

In this seminar each artist brought a unique perspective and cultural experience to the group. There were two perspectives which influenced my work. First, the seminar came after a recent trip to New Delhi, India in which my thoughts of water were about its absence and preciousness. Also, one text in particular that I identified with was the reading from Water and African American Memory: An Ecocritical Perspective. This text reminded me of the relationship that African American culture has with water based on our migrations and Diasporas. Water is akin to blood flowing through the body, it also bears witness, and holds history.

About Shamira Wilson

Shamira Wilson is an Indianapolis based interdisciplinary visual artist. She received a BA from Johns Hopkins University in Psychology in 2004, and has studied Furniture Design at the Herron School of Art and Design. Shamira Wilson creates minimal abstract art that explores the repeat patterns of textiles. Her work alludes to the storytelling qualities of narrative textiles and objects across the African Diaspora. Fusing similarities in the language of graphic design, textiles, furniture and architecture, her compositions express impressions left by the contemporary domestic, built and natural landscape.