photo by Naseem Malak
Amirra Malak is a multidisciplinary Egyptian-American artist and educator living in the Pacific Northwest of the United States while also inhabiting spaces between cultures, countries, geographies, and identities. She feels most at home in liminal spaces, especially in the natural world and is interested in using light, pattern, movement, time, sound, and visual sensation to create meditative healing experiences. Work includes drawing, painting, textiles, meditative video, spoken word, interactive and immersive video installations, and curated online spaces. She is currently exploring bridging past, present, and future through the combination of ancient craft and modern technologies in video and textile installations inspired by Egyptian Khayamiya tent appliqué. Amirra is a recipient of an Oregon Arts Commission Career Opportunity/Ford Foundation Grant which allowed her to study traditional Khayamiya applique stitching techniques directly from master Khayamiya artist Mostapha Ellassy in Egypt in 2024. She recently participated in the BoomArts PDX SWANA Local Artists Showcase at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art as well. Her work is featured on OPB’s Oregon Art Beat and as an example of contemporary Khayamiya art in the book “Art of the Tentmakers,” written by Sam Bowker and Seif El Rashidi, through American University in Cairo Press, 2025 (upcoming).
Amirra shares her belief that humans are makers and creators by nature with her two children and her high school and college students in Hood River where she has been an art teacher for over twenty years. She strives to create equity and access to college level art curriculum for all students through building and maintaining an inclusive AP art program at Hood River Valley High School and serving on the Hood River County School District Equity Committee. She also served on both the Arts Academic Advisory Committee and the Advanced Placement Art & Design Development Committee for the College Board. She was awarded the College Board Regional Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts for her equity work within the AP Art & Design program.
Questions? Commission inquiries? Collaboration ideas? Inspiration to share? Feel free to contact me below!