Sarah-Mecca Abdourahman 
@thesmecca

Sarah-Mecca Abdourahman is a Somali-Indian multidisciplinary artist based in Ottawa and Montreal. Her art practice involves painting and video art. Through the re-working of family photo albums, Abdourahman’s work addresses her cultural history, using her art practice to connect with her homeland from a first-generation Canadian perspective. Through this process, she explores concepts of migration, familial history, and land occupation. Abdourahman is a graduate of Concordia University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2020). Her work has been featured in the CBC Arts Documentary Series: Exhibitionists (2020). She has previously exhibited at the Ottawa Art Gallery (2021), Institut National Art Contemporain (2022), La Maison d’Haïti (2022), Gallery 101 (2022), Digital Art Resource Centre (2022), Rubenstein Arts Center at Duke University (2022). Most recently, Abdourahman completed a solo exhibition entitled L’exile at MIFO Gallerie d’art Eugène-Racette. She has designed murals for the Vanier Community Service Centre in Ottawa as well as Lansdowne & the Glebe Park (2021-2022).

Artistic approach
Sarah-Mecca Abdourahman is a Somali-Indian multidisciplinary artist. Her artistic practice includes painting and video art. Abdourahman's work is inspired by her personal heritage and explores themes of identity, family and societal issues. His work aims to provide visibility and representation of black figuration and Somali-Indian heritage in Canadian art spaces.

Abdourahman's paintings are often oil-based and include collage. Drawing on his background in graphic design, his creative process begins with the application of digital collages to images from his family's photo albums. These compositions are then printed as mosaic tiles and incorporated into her oil paintings. Inspired by her favorite films of the 2000s with their eccentric and kitschy aesthetic, her video work references some of the disruptive elements of these films, poking fun at popular culture while demonstrating a deeper, thought-provoking narrative. His paintings and videos share similarities in the use of bright colors and the inclusion of pop culture symbols.

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Selection of artworks