Zineb Mezzour: Finding Patterns Between Nature, Science, and Art

Zineb Mezzour was born in Morocco, grew up in Switzerland, and now lives between Marseille and Zurich. She is both an artist and a data scientist, and her work connects art, science, and spirituality.

Her journey into art began during the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, she was writing poetry and playing with ink and water to fight feelings of sadness. “I started painting with only water, then adding ink to reveal the shapes,” she says. “It made me feel so good inside.”

While walking in nature, Mezzour began to notice repeating shapes and patterns. Curious, she searched online and discovered the word fractal, a mathematical concept made famous by Benoît Mandelbrot. Fractals are patterns that repeat endlessly, and they exist everywhere: in corals, moss, river flows, trees, and even inside our bodies. “From micro to macro, it’s all the same pattern, repeating itself,” she explains.

This discovery changed her way of seeing the world. For her, fractals are not only about mathematics. They show how art, science, and spirituality are connected. “I really believe these three fields feed each other,” she says.

Today, Mezzour explores how to create or “provoke” fractal-like forms on different materials such as paper, ceramics, fabrics, and photographs. Each work celebrates the beauty of nature and the hidden order within it.

“On my walks in nature I kept seeing the same repeating shapes: like in trees, corals, and rivers. That’s when I discovered fractals, and a whole new universe opened for me.”

Her career took off unexpectedly. A year after she started experimenting, she organized a small exhibition at her sister’s home. There, Othmane Lazraq, director of the Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL) in Marrakech, discovered her work and bought her first ten pieces for the museum’s collection. “At that time I had no intention to become an artist,” she laughs.

Now, while still working part-time as a data scientist, Zineb Mezzour is fully devoted to her art. Her works invite us to look closer at nature, to see the repeating beauty of fractals, and to feel how everything is connected.