Shirien Damra (born c. 1987)[1] is an American illustrator, designer, artist, and activist.[2][3] She is known for her illustrations in support of social justice movements including the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, and support of the LGBT community, immigration, Indigenous rights, and Palestine.[4][5][6] Her work has had power through viral sharing (via social media), and has been noted as a newer form of activism.[5][7][8][9]
Shirien Damra | |
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Born | c. 1987 (age 36–37) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Education | DePaul University |
Occupation(s) | illustrator, designer, social movement activist |
Website | www |
Shirien Damra was born in 1987 in Chicago, to Muslim parents that are Palestinian refugees.[10][1] She knew about injustice and racism from her childhood.[11]
Damra attended DePaul University, where she received a bachelor's degree and master's degree in sociology. In 2015, she was diagnosed with cancer and she had to take a break from her advocacy work.[1] In 2019, she started posting images on instagram.[7]
Damra's George Floyd portrait (2020) was a tribute and was created using soft colors and featured his bust with eyes closed, and ringed in a wreath of flowers.[4][12] Her portrait of Floyd went viral after she had posted it on instagram, and resulted in more than 3.4 million "likes".[4][5] The Floyd portrait image was projected on the front of Grace Cathedral (2020) in San Francisco;[13] and painted as a mural in Raleigh, North Carolina.[10] Other tribute portraits by Damra made in solidarity with BLM have included Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.[10] All of the Damra portraits have their eyes closed, this is a reference to inward reflection and a style found in Eastern art.[10] Damra was commissioned by the Georgia's NAACP chapter for her Ahmaud Arbery portrait.[8] Additionally there is a community of other artists that created BLM-related social media-based viral work in 2020, including Nikkolas Smith, Stormy Nesbit, Dani Coke, Robin Hilkey, and Miriam Mosqueda.[14][15]
In 2021, design consultancy Matter Unlimited and Damra designed a Washington, D.C. 4th Ward community mural in celebration of "Immigrant Day of Resilience".[6]
Her work is included in the traveling art exhibition, "Ye Shall Inherit the Earth and Faces of the Divine”.[10]
Damra's work has been criticized and dismissed for being performative and overly focused on aesthetics.[7] Some claim social media platforms such as instagram has changed how people address activism, and has created a lack of consistency in protest.[7]