Ashraf Malek

Contemporary Art Practice (MA)

"Until the Path Becomes" Digital Projection Windsor Castle Elevation & Stage. 7 May 2023 This digital artwork was projected on Windsor Castle on May 7 2023 in the Coronation Concert to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III. It responds to the theme Destiny/Star-crossed as it speaks to the initiative of connecting constellations. This abstract piece is an expression of ethereal beginnings that invite the viewer to contemplate transformative initiatives. ‘Until the Path Becomes’ is an expression of honoring the journey as it begins and finding courage to make things manifest into real life experiences.

‘Somewhere to Belong’ is an interactive moving image that was projected on three large canvases at Aures Gallery London on 18 November 2023 showing the figure of Adonis, beloved of the goddess Venus, who is in the pose of either wounded or sleeping. The figure is projected through an abstract mesh that deforms continuously for two hours in a constant loop. This was part of the ‘Decompression Collective’ events that started in Denmark with the initial aim at helping people decompress from the stresses of everyday life through sound, movement, and community.

Don’t Touch Me is inspired by the La Pieta marble sculpture by Michelangelo, which originally depicts Jesus and Mary at Mount Golgotha after the crucifixion. The interactive artwork uses cameras to project the surrounding environment along the rotating diagonal pipe. The pipe moves and defragments the visual reflection of whoever stands in front of it. The pipe becomes an abstracted glitch that draws in data and reflects back a distortion of what it reads.

‘Ethereal Constellations’ is a moving image piece that ponders on what it means to formulate a conscious existence in a forever expanding and changing universe. Intrigued by the stars and the void itself, this is an attempt to explore fractal distortions both conceptually and visually. ‘Ethereal Constellations’ is not a rendered moving image, but instead it is a live interactive code that got digitally recorded. This work created the foundation visual concept for the Royal College of Art tote bag design that celebrates the school for being the number one art & design university for 10 years consecutively. The design won first prize and is now available at the Royal College of Art gift store.

About

As a creative practitioner coming from a background in architecture, Ashraf Malek has been searching for avenues to dismantle and refabricate his understanding of space that go beyond professional design-led practices. His interest lies in disrupting the formalities of hyperobjects and understanding how the presence of artefacts questions the boundaries of spatial planes. His work explores the idea of destinations as interlude fragments that blend both space and artefacts together. These destinations are mirages self-rendered by the unconscious mind that inspire new ways of comprehending self and space. His work is also interested in abstract notions of the avatar and how we can better understand ourselves around built-up ideologies relating to faith and conviction. His research touches on the social and mental effects of AI, cognitive perceptions and meta-localities.

As a multidisciplinary artist who works across a wide range of mediums, Ashraf works with digital projections, painting, 3D modeling and moving image. He continuous to explore cross intersections of coding, digital design and filmography that interrogates dimensional axes of space. His work explores spatial cues from a decentralized perspective looking at glitches and deformations as opportunities for cognitive awakening. Ashraf’s expanded moving images was featured at the 2023 Coronation Concert of King Charles III and has been showcased at the Tate Modern, Aures Gallery, Gorvy Theatre and the Genesis Cinema at East London. In 2024, the Royal College of Art selected his work to be printed on a celebratory Tote bag in celebration for being the world’s number one art & design institution for 10 consecutive years. He continues to work between Vancouver and Cairo.

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