Aisha Nailah
Painter
Aisha Nailah (Eye-ee-shuh, N’eye-ee-luh) means “life, the one who succeeds'' in Swahili, she says of her name “my parents named me well”. Born and raised in Bridgeport, Ct, Aisha is a teaching artist, her focus is abstract and abstract figurative multimedia art, recently adding murals and public art works to her list of skills. Like most children she started showing her interests and talents in art early then life happens..In college she was particularly interested in collage, painting and photography, but didn’t really pursue art seriously until she was finishing her bachelors degree in Art Therapy at Albertus Magnus. She then decided to take a chance and exhibit in 2010. Even then she went on to become a special education teacher, working in special education for 10 years and pursuing art outside of that. Throughout that time she has continued to exhibit and curate including the Beautiful Crime exhibits & Obsidian Colored Glasses at Read’s Artspace and co-curated at BLENDS Gallery in Bridgeport from 2017-2019. In 2021 she decided to leave teaching special education full time to focus more on her art.
Regarding her art:
“I feel in some ways my work is a spiritual practice, I do what I’m led to do versus planning it out. I LOVE color, I love texture and pattern but more importantly culture informs my pieces. 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 culture through many activities, being a mother, a Black mother, sister, daughter, etc., practicing ancestor worship. All of this finds its way into my work.”
