Photographed by Avery Savage

As part of our ongoing collaboration with The Shed to spotlight artists from the Open Call: Portals exhibition (June 27–August 24), SHEER spent time inside the immersive installation of visual artist, writer, and producer Marwa Eltahir: 99 Names: My Liberation Is Tied To Yours.

Her installation creates a sacred, sensory space for reflection. Modeled after majlis-style communal seating found along sub-Saharan caravan routes, the work invites audiences to rest on woven rugs beneath sheer white curtains, surrounded by sound, stillness, and prayer. A projected film plays in a loop, opening with the Azan and unfolding into spoken word narration and original composition.

film, healing art, visual activismBianca Jean-PierreJuly 24, 2025spirituality, filmmaker, Sudan, The Shed, Open CallComment

ARTIST & DESIGNER TO KNOW: MEL CORCHADO

Photography by Avery Savage

SHEER had the chance to visit the Brooklyn studio of fashion designer and artist Mel Corchado ahead of her exhibition debut. Mel’s practice is rooted in slowness and intention. Whether she’s sewing by hand, gathering with community, or experimenting with unconventional materials like sugar, her work invites us to think beyond product and into process, care, and cultural memory.

Her installation for Portals, titled $TICKY $IN$, features garments made of hardened sugar. These glimmering, fragile structures explore the material’s ties to colonial labor, Puerto Rican identity, and the shifting nature of time. In person, they feel less like clothes and more like quiet vessels of transformation.

ARTISTS TO KNOW: DESTINY BRANAY

Photography by Jordan Carter

The star motif has become Destiny’s iconic artistic signature which she describes as “symbolic of the light that exists in Black people that refuses to be dimmed.” Through her thoughtful and colorful large-scale oil paintings, Destiny highlights Black folk in community with one another, centered around the idea of hope as an act of resistance against oppressive systems in America. Destiny’s work not only honors the resiliency of her ancestors who came before her, but serves as a beacon of hope in the midst of the work that is still left to be done.

FILMMAKERS TO KNOW: EURIE CHUNG

By Tiara Starks

Chung is a Peabody-award winning filmmaker with projects such as Plague at the Golden Gate for American Experience; Asian Americans for PBS. She also owns post-production facility Leading Flash Cuts with Walt Louie. Chung speaks about her experiences as an Asian-American independent filmmaker, navigating the industry, and how other WOC can do so too.

film, visual activismBianca Jean-PierreJuly 16, 2023filmmaker, documentary, music, Tiara StarksComment

ARTISTS TO KNOW: JORDAN CHANETSA

Jordan Chanetsa is a performance artist, writer, and activist for LGBTQIA+ rights from Harare, Zimbabwe and currently based in Cologne, Germany. As a trans woman and creative from Zimbabwe, Jordan aims to use her voice and platform to inspire and empower the overlooked and underserved queer community

healing art, identity, visual activismBianca Jean-PierreAugust 7, 2022LGBTQ, Zimbabwe, performing arts, artists to know, creative adviceComment

FILMMAKERS TO KNOW: AISHA AMIN

Aisha Amin is an NYC-based artist and filmmaker born in Nairobi, Kenya of Pakistani descent. Aisha’s work explores and highlights overlooked communities including those struggling with the presence of gentrification in their neighborhood.

activations, film, visual activism, gentrificationBianca Jean-PierreJuly 28, 2021Muslim-American, NYC, Pakistani, short films, community, The ShedComment

ARTISTS TO KNOW: CAROLINE GARCIA

Born in Sydney, Australia and now based in Brooklyn, NY, Caroline Garcia is a culturally promiscuous, interdisciplinary artist of Filipinx descent. She works across performance, video, and installation while exploring themes of botany, martial arts, pop culture, dance, virtual reality, augmented reality, and more.

visual activism, interdisciplinary artistBianca Jean-PierreJuly 14, 2021filipinx, grief, Indigenous, diasporaComment

ARTIST & WRITER TO KNOW: JADA-AMINA

By Kayla Caban

Jada-Amina is a South Side Chicago born and based, Black Indigenous American writer, interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, cultural worker and musician. Their work is deeply committed to protecting Black children, women, of trans and queer Black life and ensuring they feel seen and heard.

art, film, identity, visual activismBianca Jean-PierreMay 21, 2021artists to know, black liberation, LGBTQComment

ARTISTS TO KNOW: JENNY CHANG-RODRIGUEZ

By Tiara Starks

Jenny is an illustrator & designer based in NYC who is currently working at NBC as an Art Director on the Today Show. Raised in Vancouver, Canada, She graduated at the School of Visual Arts with her BFA. Her client list includes companies such as TIME’S UP, Zappos, Allure, Nike, and Buzzfeed.

art, identity, illustration, visual activismBianca Jean-PierreMay 18, 2021artists to know, asian-american, NYC, artComment

ARTISTS TO KNOW: VANEZZA CRUZ

Vanezza Cruz is an AfroLatina visual artist and designer based in NYC. Vanezza’s work centers her experience as a darker-skinned Latina who is challenging the Eurocentric standards of not only beauty but the fine arts world that disempowers the BIPOC community and in particular, black women.

PHOTOGRAPHERS TO KNOW: CHARLEE BLACK

Charlee Black is a photographer and creative director based in the Midwest. Charlee’s photography is meant to take up space both physically and figuratively as she encourages BIPOC women to unapologetically command any room. Growing frustrated with the lack of representation of people of color in mainstream branding, Charlee launched Good Friends Studio

visual activism, photographyBianca Jean-PierreFebruary 21, 2021visual storytelling, branding, BIPOC models, portraitsComment

PHOTOGRAPHERS TO KNOW: CARMEN DANESHMANDI

Originally from California and now based in Barcelona, Carmen Daneshmandi is a Spanish-Iranian photographer, videographer & visual artist. Carmen’s work combines portraiture and storytelling and disrupts it with a sensibility of color, playfulness, and mixed media

photography, art, fashion, identity, visual activism, videographyBianca Jean-PierreDecember 12, 2020iranian, Spain, community, collage, mixed mediaComment

ARTISTS TO KNOW: NATALIE BUI

Natalie Bui is an illustrator and co-founder of a racial and gender equity consulting business called SHIFT. Natalie’s work centers on self empowerment, community empowerment, and cultural exploration with a visionary approach that emphasizes our collective liberation across communities.

visual activism, illustrationBianca Jean-PierreOctober 29, 2020artists to know, immigration, race, identity, genderComment

ARTISTS TO KNOW: AMARA RAMDHANNY

Amara Ramdhanny is an Afro-St. Lucian and Indo-Grenadian artist currently based in Brooklyn. Inspired by 90s cartoons, anime and the strong women of color in her life, Amara’s work is a vibrant juxtaposition of social commentary demanding our attention but with a playful approach.

animation, art, identity, visual activismBianca Jean-PierreOctober 1, 2020nyc, Caribbean, Indo-Caribbean, animeComment

FILMMAKERS TO KNOW: REAA PURI

Reaa Puri is a filmmaker and co-founder of Breaktide Productions, a film production company owned and operated by women of color. They work to center underrepresented voices and decolonize the filmmaking industry.

art, identity, visual activismBianca Jean-PierreFebruary 9, 2020film, cinematographyComment

ARTISTS TO KNOW: FRANCINE BESAS

Filipina artist based in New Zealand who is exploring psychedelic themes, colors and patterns in her work while partnering with Shakti, a migrant refuge for women, to help share the voices of minorities.

PHOTOGRAPHERS TO KNOW: FRANCENA OTTLEY

Dominican-American installation artist and photographer empowering women through solidarity and visual activism.

IMAGE FRANCENA’S WEBSITE

photography, art, visual activismBianca Jean-PierreMarch 20, 2019photography, artists to know, Dominican-AmericanComment