exhibition

anime through black eyes – solo exhibition

| Aliyah Art

The self-curated solo exhibition “Anime Through Black Eyes” commemorates all of Aliyah’s works that widen the horizon of diversity in anime form. It also celebrates characters from anime and other popular culture that people, especially in the black community, look up to and are empowered by.

Anime is popular in the black community, its depiction of emotional and beautiful stories, the protagonist’s struggles,and their ability to overcome obstacles. It evokes courage in us, and it’s exciting to watch the story’s progression. With the hurdles people of colour face every day, having to jump through more hoops to get further in life, anime has been a saving grace where that struggle is relatable.

THE BLUE PERIOD – 1ST SOLO EXHIBITION

| Aliyah Art

From February 15th – 17th 2023, I did my first solo art exhibition which took place in the Making Space gallery in Poplar.

From January until February, I had a residency where I was using the gallery as my studio space. Here I created and painted my original artworks, even pushing myself to go bigger and do a big piece! It was refreshing to have so much space to myself. Growing up in a council flat in central London meant I was met with many creative opportunities, but never having the space to thrive or utilise them, it usually proved difficult. I think this has subconciously resulted in my work to being on a smaller scale.

The opportunity to work in the Making Space studio excited me and it was the first time I had so much room to work with! I challenged myself to paint on a larger scale and to see how I would thrive working with bigger pieces. I really felt I got to spread my wings as an artist and I managed to produce pieces I never otherwise would have before. Making Space literally made time and space for me to do this and I am so thankful!

The title of the exhibition being The Blue Period is me comemorating the end of my “sad girl era” where I really drew from my feelings from years 2017-2022 but I feel like I have overcome this part of myself and creating these pieces helped me to process my thoughts and emotions. Blue is also my favourite colour – it’s both calming and deep, it can even represent royalty.

FROM SCRATCH – CLOSING CEREMONY

| Aliyah Art

Thursday 7th April 2022

The closing ceremony for the first successful group exhibition by my good, dear friend Annette Fernando is happening this Thursday. I am very happy to announce that not only did I feature in the exhibition, but I’ll also be hosting the event on the night!

I felt with my experience and confidence built up from doing YouTube videos and Twitch livestreams, this was the next step up for me to go. I am very excited to host and present on the night!

There will be exclusive postcards of the artwork featured in the exhibition for sale, also some amazing performances from bands, musicians to spoken word poets on the night.

Being part of this exhibition has been such an achievement for me, I’m so happy to be able to share my artwork with my friends and family. It’s made me hungry for more – I will be featuring in more group exhibitions and soon will have my own solo exhibition too (it’s about time I did!)

This has made me proud to call myself an Artist!

Carnival Captured Exhibit

| Aliyah Art

Hey y’all! I entered a competition last year where the topic was Notting Hill Carnival and I entered this illustration I did a couple years ago of my cousin Syreeta who is a Carinval Queen! I didn’t win but my piece will be on display at the exhibition celebrating the Notting Hill Carnival called ‘Carnival Captured’ at the Tabernacle, West London at the end of this month! I’m really happy as this will be my first piece to be exhibited! 🎨✨

Carnival Queen