Aisha Nailah

Artist Statement

My name is Aisha Nailah which in Arabic and Swahili means “alive & well, life, the one who succeeds”, I feel like my parents named me well. I consider myself a multidisciplinary artist but my main vein is in abstract and abstract figurative. Largely self taught but I’ve had some “formal” training while getting my bachelors in Art Therapy. I’m a certified educator/ teaching artist. I view my work as a spiritual practice in some ways. I just do what I’m led to do versus planning it out, it’s much more authentic to me that way. I think it’s obvious but I LOVE color, I love texture and pattern but more importantly I love my culture. The culture of growing up in a Costa Rican household, being a Black girl in an inner city, being “Afrocentric” and having been immersed in African diasporic culture throughout my life, being a mother, a Black mother, sister, daughter, etc., practicing ancestor worship. It’s what informs my work the most.