Mel Jahr is a multidisciplinary artist that focuses on physical formats such as zines, collages and ceramics. Mel is based in Swansea and continues to be inspired by the possibilities of this creative place. They use analog and digital photography with their art collective “Fagrats” to highlight queer perspectives and create dreamlike imagery. The neurodiverse and Queer group of artists sets out to critique power structures and highlight marginalized perspectives. Their artwork has been featured in local art magazines such as “Riotess”, “Flytrap” and “ABABCB” since 2024. The issues included articles about aversion towards AI, criticism of gender roles, modern witchcraft, practice as an artist and reversing the modern girlboss trope. 


In their solo practice Mel receives a lot of inspiration from dreams and media such as David Lynch’s films. Queerness is also a dominant influence, and their work envisions a more just future through queer perspectives.

Through their degree in Geography (M.Sc. 2024) they also have an extensive interest in spaces, particularly liminal spaces. The in-between, often overlooked and transitional, is central to their art which evokes feelings of nostalgia but can also create eeriness.

In their Master dissertation titled “Queer Activism-through the lenses of zines” they investigated spaces and activists by using zines. In collaborative workshops queer activists were able to visualize activism in its relation to queerness by creating zines. They wanted to continue amplifying queer voices and ran regular free zine workshops for Queer people in Swansea (2024-2025). These zines and collages were exhibited in July 2025 with “Queertawe” in an exhibition titled “Queer Space- Community Exhibition” in Volcano theatre, Swansea.

Mel continued their work with zines in research settings and in August 2025 the hosted zine workshops at a Queer Writing Retreat for postgraduates at Leeds University. Collaborating with Leah Petersen they also founded the “Queer research collective Germany” in June 2024 encouraging more students to research Queer topics.