Between Shores, Samah Elmeri

Medium: Digital

"Home in Transit is a digital collage built from stamps representing Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, and New York City, the three places I have called home. Morocco shaped my childhood, the UAE was where I spent a decade and where my family remains, and New York is my present and new frontier. This piece is a continuation of my earlier work Tripolitania, created during my SCPS Fashion New Media program, which centered on Libya, my birthplace. Where Tripolitania marked origins, Home in Transit expands the map, charting how identity evolves across time and borders.

The exhibition theme Expanse resonates deeply with this work. Each stamp, once a small fixed object of communication, multiplies into a vast pattern that mirrors the expanse of diasporic identity: rooted in specific places yet continuously stretching outward. It reflects the layered nature of belonging, a life in motion defined not by a single origin but by the interconnectedness of many homes.

Although developed after completing the SCPS program, this work carries forward the design and storytelling skills I honed there: digital layering, cultural symbolism, and narrative composition. The certificate gave me the tools to bridge personal history with visual communication, and this project demonstrates how that learning continues to grow beyond the classroom.

Ultimately, Home in Transit is both archive and horizon, a record of where I have been and an opening toward the limitless expanse of what is still ahead."

Bright, fantastical seaside collage filled with saturated colors. Pink orchids frame the top and bottom. Dolphins leap in sequence across turquoise waves beneath a pastel sky and a faint rainbow. At center right, a mermaid figure with a shimmering purple-and-blue tail rests among rocky shoreline textures, her upper body composed of a classical marble bust inside a pearlescent seashell. The composition blends dreamlike fantasy with hyperreal photographic details.
A grid of thirty-five brightly colored mock U.S. postage stamps, each labeled “4 cents” and “New York.” Each stamp features a different New York icon or reference, including: the Statue of Liberty, “I ♥ NY” logo, yellow taxi, subway signage, Empire State Building, hot dogs, pretzels, pizza slices, MetroCard, the Wall Street Charging Bull, maps, skyline photos, bodegas, bagels, “Good Times” signage, and cultural phrases relating to New York City. The stamps are arranged in five rows with varied background colors such as blue, green, pink, yellow, orange, and purple.
A grid of thirty-five mock postage stamps labeled “Royaume du Maroc” and valued at “15 Franc.” Each stamp features a different Moroccan cultural element, including: traditional clothing, woven carpets, lanterns, couscous dishes, mint tea sets, musical instruments, henna patterns, royal emblems, artisans, tajine cookware, historic gates, the Hassan II Mosque, jewelry, spices, ceramics, and the Moroccan flag. The stamps appear in a range of vivid background colors—red, green, blue, orange, purple, teal, and yellow—and include Arabic script beneath the French title.