Outsiders and Others is proud to present Seema Shah: Missing Pieces, running from August 2 to 30, 2025.

This exhibition offers a subtle and nuanced representation of the lived experience of complex trauma, challenging preconceived ideas about how personal trauma manifests and is creatively expressed. The exhibition is centered around a collection of 366 miniature collages on 2 3/4 ” x 1 3/8” shipping tags, one created every day of 2024. Collages on vintage envelopes and book covers complement the tags.

Though the primary focus of my work is artistic expression, my creative process is intuitive and largely informed by my lived experience of complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Spontaneous associations and unexpected

juxtapositions give form to subconscious and embodied “knowing,” leading to greater self-understanding. Metaphor and symbolic imagery capture a felt sense, translate what is beyond words, evoke connections between past and present, and link the personal to the universal.

The creative process behind the tags exemplifies how complex trauma can continue to live within and exert an influence yet remain outside conscious awareness. Examining the collaged tags collectively, themes common to complex PTSD emerge, including fragmentation, disconnection, and isolation. Viewed together, the tags convey the relentlessness of the long-term effects of complex trauma.

About the Artist:
Seema Shah is a Vancouver-based self-taught collage artist and writer. She was a recipient of The Beaumont Studios Artist To Watch Award 2022 and a highly commended artist in the 2022 & 2023 Contemporary Collage Magazine Awards. Her miniature collages have been exhibited in two dollhouse galleries in the UK, The House of Smalls and Small House Gallery, where she had a solo show in 2024.