BEAUTIFUL VOICE
Women United ART MOVEMENT
is proud to present
BEAUTIFUL VOICE
a solo exhibition by
NARMIN KASSAM
EXHIBITION SYNOPSIS
Beautiful Voice is rooted in Narmin Kassam’s lived experience as an African-born woman and former refugee. This mixed-media series honours the strength, resilience, and cultural richness of women across the globe. Through the weaving of textured paper and vibrant paint, Kassam brings forth the voices of women whose stories are often overlooked. Each layered composition, crafted from decorative papers from around the world, paint, and wood panels, embodies the depth of identity, the complexity of lived experience, and the beauty found in diversity. With impressionistic figures wrapped in symbolic fabrics and simplified, expressive forms, Beautiful Voice invites viewers into a sacred space of reflection and recognition. It is both a celebration and a call to action: to see, hear, and uplift women as essential leaders, caregivers, and changemakers in our shared human story.
ARTIST BIO
Canadian artist Narmin Kassam creates art as a form of personal exploration, self-expression and healing practice, exploring themes of women’s empowerment, gender equality, and cultural diversity. Through her layered technique of using mixed media, where she weaves paint and paper on wood panels, she expresses feminine strength, inclusion, and the richness of cultural identity.
Kassam’s work has been exhibited widely across Canada, including at the Manotick Art Gallery (2019), National SEEN Exhibition (2022), Roundhouse Centre, Vancouver (2022), Surrey Art Gallery (2023), Summer & Grace Gallery, Oakville (2025), and ModerFuel Gallery, Kingston (2025) and the Chicago O’Hanlon Center for the Arts (2025). She will be featured in upcoming exhibitions with the Women in Arts Network, along with a solo show with the Women United Art Movement in 2025. Collaborative public murals she has led appear in Ottawa, Toronto, and Calgary.
Her work has been featured in Art Seen Magazine, New Visionary Magazine, Artany Magazine, Visual Art Journal, and the Arts to Hearts Project: 100 Emerging Artists of 2024. In 2024, she was longlisted for the Women United Art Prize in the Collage and Fibre Art category.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My Beautiful Voice series captures women's unbreakable strength, solidarity and vibrant diversity through layered textures and colours. The series features a short film, an immersive installation, and mixed-media collage paintings. As an African-born woman and former refugee, I deeply connect with each figure in my paintings. The figures represent both beauty and the struggles inherent in their unsung stories of resilience. Their voices are expressed through their individuality, cultural identity, and physical form.
Creating these pieces honours women and underscores the importance of supporting women as leaders, professionals, mothers, sisters and partners. The layering of textured decorative papers from Japan, India, and other regions with paint mirrors layers of identity and history within each figure. The durability and strength of the wood panels I use complement their resilience. The papers inspire my creativity by offering rich textures, cultural depth, and organic movement, guiding the formation of each figure and composition.
My layering technique reflects the depth and complexity of women’s experiences, with layered skin tones and collaged fabric patterns symbolizing the rich tapestry of their identities. The combination of paint and paper, a unique interplay of light and colour, creates a tactile quality, drawing the viewer into an intimate engagement with each figure. Thereby reinforcing our collective responsibility to honour and uplift women's voices. Mimicking traditional African fabrics, the clothing and head wraps add cultural depth and vibrancy and celebrate heritage. The impressionistic facial features and postures emphasize expression and emotion through simplified shapes and bold lines. This creative process is also a meditative practice, allowing me to connect spiritually while navigating life’s challenges.
www.narminkassamart.com
is proud to present
BEAUTIFUL VOICE
a solo exhibition by
NARMIN KASSAM
EXHIBITION SYNOPSIS
Beautiful Voice is rooted in Narmin Kassam’s lived experience as an African-born woman and former refugee. This mixed-media series honours the strength, resilience, and cultural richness of women across the globe. Through the weaving of textured paper and vibrant paint, Kassam brings forth the voices of women whose stories are often overlooked. Each layered composition, crafted from decorative papers from around the world, paint, and wood panels, embodies the depth of identity, the complexity of lived experience, and the beauty found in diversity. With impressionistic figures wrapped in symbolic fabrics and simplified, expressive forms, Beautiful Voice invites viewers into a sacred space of reflection and recognition. It is both a celebration and a call to action: to see, hear, and uplift women as essential leaders, caregivers, and changemakers in our shared human story.
ARTIST BIO
Canadian artist Narmin Kassam creates art as a form of personal exploration, self-expression and healing practice, exploring themes of women’s empowerment, gender equality, and cultural diversity. Through her layered technique of using mixed media, where she weaves paint and paper on wood panels, she expresses feminine strength, inclusion, and the richness of cultural identity.
Kassam’s work has been exhibited widely across Canada, including at the Manotick Art Gallery (2019), National SEEN Exhibition (2022), Roundhouse Centre, Vancouver (2022), Surrey Art Gallery (2023), Summer & Grace Gallery, Oakville (2025), and ModerFuel Gallery, Kingston (2025) and the Chicago O’Hanlon Center for the Arts (2025). She will be featured in upcoming exhibitions with the Women in Arts Network, along with a solo show with the Women United Art Movement in 2025. Collaborative public murals she has led appear in Ottawa, Toronto, and Calgary.
Her work has been featured in Art Seen Magazine, New Visionary Magazine, Artany Magazine, Visual Art Journal, and the Arts to Hearts Project: 100 Emerging Artists of 2024. In 2024, she was longlisted for the Women United Art Prize in the Collage and Fibre Art category.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My Beautiful Voice series captures women's unbreakable strength, solidarity and vibrant diversity through layered textures and colours. The series features a short film, an immersive installation, and mixed-media collage paintings. As an African-born woman and former refugee, I deeply connect with each figure in my paintings. The figures represent both beauty and the struggles inherent in their unsung stories of resilience. Their voices are expressed through their individuality, cultural identity, and physical form.
Creating these pieces honours women and underscores the importance of supporting women as leaders, professionals, mothers, sisters and partners. The layering of textured decorative papers from Japan, India, and other regions with paint mirrors layers of identity and history within each figure. The durability and strength of the wood panels I use complement their resilience. The papers inspire my creativity by offering rich textures, cultural depth, and organic movement, guiding the formation of each figure and composition.
My layering technique reflects the depth and complexity of women’s experiences, with layered skin tones and collaged fabric patterns symbolizing the rich tapestry of their identities. The combination of paint and paper, a unique interplay of light and colour, creates a tactile quality, drawing the viewer into an intimate engagement with each figure. Thereby reinforcing our collective responsibility to honour and uplift women's voices. Mimicking traditional African fabrics, the clothing and head wraps add cultural depth and vibrancy and celebrate heritage. The impressionistic facial features and postures emphasize expression and emotion through simplified shapes and bold lines. This creative process is also a meditative practice, allowing me to connect spiritually while navigating life’s challenges.
www.narminkassamart.com
