Zaeemah Bashir
Zaeemah is a multi-disciplinary artist who recently received her Fine Art degree from Teesside University. She received the New Graduate Award and has shown at Pineapple Black, Python Gallery, Constantine Gallery, and MIMA (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art).
Her practice spans a range of mediums, with recent works incorporating acrylic painting, laser cutting, and cyanotypes. She is drawn to experimentation and continually explores new materials to expand her visual language.
During her third year, leading up to her degree show, her practice began to focus on the emotional and physical experiences of migration. Her work explores the challenges, resilience, and quiet strength that arise through displacement and the process of beginning again.
A recurring symbol in her work is the flower, representing movement and transformation. Like migrants, flowers are uprooted, carried and replanted in unfamiliar places. Even seeds travel by wind, water, or time. Carrying with them the potential for renewal. This poetic imagery speaks to an ongoing process of adaptation and survival.
The theme of migration is deeply personal for her as the child of a first-generation immigrant. Her work serves as a response to her mother’s journey, honouring both the struggle and the beauty that comes with change. It invites viewers to reflect on identity, belonging, and the quiet power of resilience.
As an emerging artist, she continues to explore how material and metaphor can communicate personal and collective stories of movement and growth.