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One visual artists intimate love affair with collage art.

Create your happiness challenge

By Marryam MomaPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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Hello, my name is Marryam Moma and I am a Tanzanian-Nigerian visual artist, with a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. I have been so blessed and lucky to travel and my life as whole has been a huge collage of experiences, color, vibrancy, and lots of paper!

I was born as a fraternal twin, into a family of seven; Tanzanian mother, Nigerian father, three older sisters (whose first language was Russian) and a twin brother. I grew up in a big family household, in which there could potentially be 2-3 languages being spoken in different rooms of the house at any given time, together with my immediate family and close relatives from both my mother and fathers’ sides. Some spoke Russian, some Swahili, others Efik (my father’s dialect from Cross River State in Nigeria), and English. The food, music, culture, and art were an exciting potpourri and blend of middle eastern Tanzanian meals, fabrics, with the west African sounds and flavors – imagine Tanzanian Pilau rice cooked with cardamon seeds on one stove and Nigerian Jollof rice on the other! The house was full of laughter, love and music, and spices and children. I loved being able to walk into my mother’s workspace and see her drawing, (an architect for 20 plus years), and meander through the house to see one of my aunts grating fresh coconuts using an mbuzi – (a traditional wooden grinder that you sit on to use) to collect its milk as an ingredient for dinner that night. I share all this to say that from a very young age I have lived a “collage of a life” in which all these different parts of my heritage have come together harmoniously to make me the well-rounded woman I have become today.

Today, through immersive original analog collage, I create uplifting and inclusive pieces about the Black experience and body. These stories are reminiscent of my childhood, my family, sisterhood, love, and legacy. At the core of my art practice, I aim to empower and uplift the Black body, especially the black female body. Unveiling the magic within this race, breaks collective contemporary stereotypes. Thus, changing attitudes and perceptions of black women, allowing society to re-discover her: Powerful, complex, beautiful, revered, and valuable. My hand cut collages are focused on elevating the importance of the black experience and body. The clarity, discipline, and execution of my work reflects applied strengths from a formal education in architecture. I am so happy and grateful for my ever-loyal friend; my Fiskars Amplify scissors that helps me take my work to the next level, in terms of precision, cleanliness and clarity.

Empowering the black body through my work and telling uplifting stories, I create collages within a rigorous subtractive process that is layered, detailed, textured, and yet minimalist on delivery. Like a mystery, the composition evolves one piece at a time. I continue to edit and employ possible elements and media to complete the piece. My scissors help me to create with speed and accuracy that really allow the elements within my collage carry a freshness and lightness about them. You’ll find at least three to five pairs in my studio, at any given time!

I work from my home studio in Alpharetta, GA, more often now since the pandemic. It is a glass box that is connected to my house that I can access directly from the master bedroom. While it is beautiful and serene, It has become doubly important to remain fluid in my practice, open to change and stay connected to the artistic community. The last 18 months have shown how important community is. We are creating virtual spaces where we empower one another, share creative ideas, expand our material intelligence as a lot of my peers practice in different mediums, and give feedback on each other’s work. I must say though, that I am excited to reconnect with peers, friends, and family in person.

As my practice is grows and expands, and these in-person collaborations are starting to slowly happen more frequently, I work together with other artists and organizations to deliver private and public projects. This is allowing me to take this message further and share themes centric to Black lives that strengthen and inspire. I see this as ongoing work. One of my recent public art projects is centered around connecting with youth living in a predominantly black community in Atlanta, GA. I am actively connecting with the youth to learn about their interests and gain their feedback about art that they believe will enrich them and their community.

It is my intention to change the dynamics of how the black body is viewed in a society that is divisive versus inclusive. My work raises awareness that sparks discussions around traveling back inwards and making space for reconciliation with self and other. I ultimately hope to create a space in which the black body is celebrated.

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About the Creator

Marryam Moma

I am Tanzanian-Nigerian Collage artist, living and loving in Atlanta GA, who melds the palette of re-purposed hand-cut paper and media together. Visit www.marryammoma.com to learn more about me!

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