maurika smutherman

A maker and thinker.

Making

I am a critical maker and digital humanist who engages with various types of media in my creative practice. My area of expertise is graphic design, but I also have a wide range of experience with videography, photography, audio production, textile production, 3D modeling, and more. Browse my creative work below.

“Envisioning the Future of Charlotte Through the Past and Present” is a commissioned digital collage that represents a future of Charlotte, NC as a site imbued with the cultural knowledges and practices of the Indigenous and Black communities who sustained the land and built the city into what it is today. It was featured during the 2023 and 2024 Envisioning Urban Futures events at North Carolina State University.
Graphic for the NCSU African American Cultural Center’s inaugural research symposium
Logo for the Decolonial Media Studies Database

L to R: Digital Scrapbook Collage; Sneakers as a Black Cultural Artifact; Media and Communication Genealogy.

A woman holding a fan over her face.
A woman with curly hair poses while holding her pregnant belly
A smiling woman holds a balloon
A woman smiles at the camera
A woman holds balloons in the sky that read '20'
A woman sits down and poses for the camera
A woman rests her head on her hand as she looks into the camera
A woman sits on an overturned boat while looking at the camera
A woman holds a fan while looking at the camera
Three reproduced images of the same woman sitting down and posing for the camera.
A woman looks directly into the camera

Digital Photography Edited in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom.

A primary artifact of analysis in my work is the sneaker as a mobile technology used by Black women to produce and alter space. To explore this, I used Polycam and an iPad to 3D scan a pair of Melody Ehsani Air Jordan OG ‘Cherry’s’ and Nike Air Swoopes. Above are videos featuring both scans. The full project may be viewed at the following link: Black Presence in the Archive
A group of Black women showcasing red, black, and white quilt blocks

My dissertation explores quilting as a type of embodied digital media production alongside more ‘conventional’ digital practices like DJing. I began my quilting journey in 2023 after joining the African American Quilt Circle of Durham. Above is a gallery featuring my first quilt block, which I discuss in my dissertation.