NASARIMBA: One Year Later
In June 2020 we caught up with artistic duo NASARIMBA, the muralists who’ve been making their mark all throughout Calgary. Since then, Rachel Ziriada and Mikhail Miller have been busy developing their practice and finding new ways to create and interact with the community, including collaborating with Edmonton-based artist Jill Stanton last summer for the Beltline Urban Murals Project (BUMP) festival and taking part in the RBC Emerging Visual Artists Program. Originally scheduled to work in the Ledge Gallery at Arts Commons, they’ve alternatively migrated their work to a home studio in order to adapt to current restrictions. Needless to say, a pandemic has not meant stagnation in their work.
“We did an Alumni project for AUARTS; it was a mural in the hallway to the Jubilee auditorium space. We did a City of Calgary mural project, and we were also working on a bunch of garage door murals—that’s been a cool thing,” says Mikhail.
“Yeah, that took off last year with people being at home a lot during the pandemic and wanting to spice up their backyard a little bit,” adds Rachel. “Some of the works are on the garage door space in the alley, but more people have been wanting something actually in their backyard that they can see and enjoy.”
As the winter months closed in and made outdoor work more difficult, NASARIMBA’s focus shifted to inside the home.
“We made crib boards and a puzzle, thinking of how everyone was at home and playing games over the holidays. It was fun, something different for us to do,” says Rachel.
In a year full of changes, art has been no exception. Rachel and Mikhail have seen a shift in the public’s receptiveness to art and have witnessed a growing desire for it in public spaces. With an increase of people spending time in their own homes and neighborhoods, there’s a developing desire for art and visual variance to liven up such spaces—and they don’t foresee this losing traction when the pandemic begins to fade.
“I think if anything, we’re observing it spread,” comments Rachel. “The murals began in Sunnyside, where it’s expected that there will be art everywhere, but now we’re hearing from people in different neighborhoods, which is exciting. Just recently we painted a mural in Mayland Heights on a 7-11 and that’s been the furthest out of the inner city we’ve painted, so it’s exciting to be able to go into new communities.”
When looking to the future, more changes are in the works for NASARIMBA. After meeting at a RBC Emerging Visual Artist Program portfolio review event, they were approached by VivianeArt to have their first solo show in a commercial gallery. This is a first step to helping them bridge a gap that has proven difficult over the years.
“It’s exciting because we got news that we were going to have this show when we had a lot of time to get into the studio and just focus on making some new work, and we’ve only had that a handful of times within our practice,” says Rachel. “It’s been so awesome to have dedicated time to work on paintings which is something we’ve wanted to do so much—things really picked up since we started murals a few years ago, and we always talked about slowing down and getting back into the studio, and we’ve finally had that opportunity this past couple of months.”
Mikhail laughs, “It’s good to have a deadline too.”
NASARIMBA’s work can be found all throughout Calgary and area, and they’ve increased their social presence with an updated website and active Instagram to help the public discover their art virtually as well as physically. In addition to showing at VivianeArt from July 9 through August 15, 2021, they will be participating in a virtual Artist Reception on June 18th as part of the RBC Emerging Visual Artists Program, which is free and open to the public. You can register here!
To learn more about these dynamic muralists and where you can see their art in our community, visit their website at www.nasarimba.art.
