About
Photo: Clyde Semmoh >
Irish born, Indian raised, Brooklyn based, Sheena Matheiken is a filmmaker and interdisciplinary designer working across the broad realms of cinema, interaction design and publishing.
Presently, Sheena co-runs ¡Bricolagista!, an independent filmmaking collective with her partner-in-crime, Monihan Monihan. Their debut feature film, La Voz De Los Silenciados, is a modern day silent film about a deaf immigrant girl in New York City. The film played to great acclaim in the international film festival circuit and picked up a few awards along the way. Their second feature, Sea to Shining Sea, will be released in 2017. She is currently working on her feature-length directorial debut titled Mugri.
In 2001, Sheena completed Urbicide, a short film she shot in Sarajevo four years after the Serbian siege of the city. Urbicide is a portrait of post war landscapes as re-habited by its citizenry. The film premiered at the rooftop of ABC No Rio gallery in NYC, on the first anniversary of 9/11. As the film screened, the very first installation of the Towers of Light beamed into the night sky, imposing a jarring new context to the piece.
In 2009, Sheena launched the globally acclaimed Uniform Project – a response to the mass trends of disposible fashion – whereby she challenged herself to wear the same dress for an entire year. Designed to be an online fundraiser, the project went viral, acquired millions of views, and raised over $100k for children’s school uniforms in India. Following its success, she was honored as one of Elle Magazine’s Women of the Year.
Sheena also spent over a decade at creative agencies and technology startups working within the emerging digital ecosystem. Sheena was Head of Experience Design at New Lab, an interdisciplinary space designed to support entrepreneurs working in emerging technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and connected devices. Prior to that, she was Creative Director at The Mill, the reputed trans-Atlantic post-production house, and at Fake Love, a New York Times owned experiential design studio.
In 2016, Sheena quit her industry career. She has since dedicated her time to unlearning cultural axioms that connect value to productivity. She is now committed full-time to filmmaking and personal projects that challenge calcified notions of work and well-being.
Drop her a line at s [at] matheiken [dot] com.
Co-Producer, From the Shadows, India . 2022
Co-Producer, Beba, USA . 2022
Director, Co-Writer, Ingrid Silva–Making Space, USA . 2021
Writer & Director, Chamaca, Mexico/USA . 2021
Producer & Editor, Sea to Shining Sea, USA . 2017
Director of Digital Experience, New Lab, New York . 2014
Inaugural Resident at New Inc, New Museum, New York . 2014
Board of Directors, Boulder Digital Works, Colorado . 2012
Creative Director, The Mill, New York . 2012
Founder & Creative Director, Uniform Project, New York . 2010
Assoc. Creative Director, Interactive, Digitas, New York . 2009
Freelance Art Director/Interaction Designer, New York . 2006
Digital Design Faculty, Parsons School of Design, New York . 2002
Filmmaker, Urbicide, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina . 2001
Freelance Art Director, Rubecon, Chennai, India . 1998
Guest Lecture, Wharton, Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia . 2014
Social Entrepreneurship Summit, Harvard University, MA . 2012
Trailblazer Talk, Body & Soul festival, Ireland . 2012
Executive Workshops, Boulder Digital Works, CO . 2011
GoogleTalk, Google NY 2011
TEDxDubai talk, Dubai . 2010
Sustainable Consumption Panel, World Policy Institute, NY . 2010
Guest Lecture, Fashion Institute of Technology , NY . 2010
Keynote, Qi Global conference, Singapore . 2010
Singapore Management University Lecture, Singapore . 2010
PeopleTree Fashion Forum, Tokyo . 2010
WorldBank Headquarters Lecture, Washington DC . 2010
Sustainability Panel, Center for Architecture, NY . 2010
Design for Life Panel, London Design Festival, London . 2009
Golden Goats Award for Best Feature Film, Ale Kino IFF, Poland . 2014
Best Director (Maximón Monihan), St. Petersburg Beginning IFF . 2014
Best Sound Design (Michael Coffman), St. Petersburg Beginning IFF . 2014
Young Critics Jury Award, Mumbai International Film Festival . 2013
Best Touch Interaction, User Experience Awards . 2012
Communication Arts Interactive Annual . 2012
FWA pick . 2011
Uniform Project
Woman of the Year, Elle Magazine Canada . 2009
Top 100 most innovative projects, The Feast NY . 2009
Nominee, Cooper Hewitt People’s Design Award . 2009
US Open iPhone App
Forbes, Best branded Apps of 2009
One Show, Interactive Merit . 2010
Webby Honoree, 14th Annual Webby Awards . 2010
Converse.com
Communication Arts, Web pick of the week . 2009
FWA Favorite Websites Award . 2009
Design Licks Site of Day . 2009
AnneKlein.com
W3 Award for Best in Fashion . 2007
W3 Award for Best in Visual Appeal . 2007
Masters in Design & Technology, Parsons School of Design, NY
Certificate in Creative writing, The New School, NY
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Stella Maris College, Chennai, India