To celebrate the launch of Infinities, guest-editor Nadia Kurd commissioned emerging Afghan-Canadian artist Shaheer Zazai to create a limited-edition risograph print to be included with each print issue. For this project, Shaheer collaborated with Quentin Mitchell of Vide Press to transform his digital artwork into a multi-layered print. Shaheer generously took the time to create a short video describing his practice and unique process.
Shaheer Zazai is known for creating images based on Afghan carpets using Microsoft Word. In many ways, his meticulous and time-consuming digital practice is in line with the conventions of carpet making, however, Shaheer’s tools and aesthetic completely transform this centuries-old tradition.
Above: The digital version of Shaheer Zazai’s ‘BFM8.511-9’ is separated into four layers by colour. From left to right, the black, bright red, rich turquoise, dark blue, and bright yellow layers lay over top of each other. Each layer reveals a unique pattern of its own. Once combined in the final risograph print, the layers will come together to form a complex, carpet-like pattern.
Part of Shaheer’s process making “BFM8.511-9” involved separating each colour into its own layer in preparation for risograph printing. Unlike printers that blend standard CMYK inks to create each colour, each layer of this risograph print is made with a carefully selected single colour ink.
Quentin Mitchell of Vide Press loves inspiring more artists to use riso as an experimental medium and discover the unexpected unique effects that can happen when designs are translated from screen to ink and paper.
My favourite types of projects are collaborative ones that I know are going to reach out into the community and inspire more artists to attempt to use Riso as a medium. I especially enjoy larger artist publications that incorporate many contributors and many different styles of art, but also limits the colour palette to two or three colours that everyone has to work within. This showcases the vast variety of results that can be achieved with just a few colours, whether the artwork is watercolour, graphic art, or photography, while using a common medium to create a cohesive look. It’s always inspiring to get different perspectives on the print method.
No matter what your artwork looks like on screen, it will always print a bit differently. The multiple passes through the machine when layering multiple colours can lead to happy accidents and a more imperfect handmade-looking vibe which I like to call “Riso charm”. I’m often surprised by the colour gamuts that can be created and just how vibrantly the colours interact.
-Quentin Mitchell, Vide Press
Quentin enjoyed collaborating with Shaheer – sharing riso’s various quirks and charms with a curious artist and witnessing the MS Word-based design adapted to a file for riso. He said, “it was very interesting and gratifying to see his digital designs based on traditional Afghan carpets converted back into a tangible physical form – and I think we are all very pleased with the results!”
Order your print copy of issue 38.3 to receive this limited-edition risograph.
Thank you to the Canada Council for the Arts: Concept to Realization stream for funding this special issue.
Cover Image: Samar Hejazi, Little Blue-six, 2021. Tatreez (Palestinian embroidery) from The Intricacies of Wholeness series, 20 x 10 cm. Photo by Jessica Thalmann
Infinities, Issue 38.3 also features:
Thinking Through Infinities and the Possibilities of Art Making By Nadia Kurd
Muslims in Canada Archives (MiCA): Transforming Canada’s Representational Lens by Moska Rokay
The Thin Line Between Modernity and Tradition in Queer Performance By Abdi Osman
Distance, Difference, Destiny by Tazeen Qayyum
Azadeh Elmizadeh, A Hundred Times, Why? by Tammer El-Sheikh
“The Art of the Hustle”: How Photographer Faisa Omer is Reclaiming Beauty Standards and Breaking Barriers Through Storytelling by Timiro Mohamed
In Keeping House: Radicalizing the Mundane as Potential for Reconciliation by Yasmeen Nematt Alla
Traditions Unbound: An Interview with Jamelie Hassan by Nadia Kurd
Grief, Tenderness, and Kinship: The Work of Habiba El-Sayed by Sanaa Humayun
Of Land, Performance, and History: A Profile on Alize Zorlutuna by Sam Shahsahabi
The Fiction of a Fixed Point: The Films of Rolla Tahir by Nehal El-Hadi
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