LILAH ALI

Words by Joelle de Poto | Photos provided

Motivated by the desire to engage with new and exciting artistic ideas, Lilah Ali looks to embrace variety and multidisciplinary innovation in her art. A freshman Studio Arts major in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, she engages in multiple disciplines and uses a wide range of mediums to express herself artistically. Open-mindedness and whimsy are core to the work she produces in a variety of ways.

Although she is no stranger to traditional mediums such as graphite, charcoal, oil paint, and clay, she is enamored with resin, multimedia installation art, and colorful ink and pen work. Creating practical objects like incense holders, often shaped like strange and fantastical creatures, is a key part of her art. She also is interested in the idea of artistic permanence, which for her involves creating simplistic and memorable characters such as Roberto, a friendly cat.

Often the charm of Ali’s pieces is in the differences across her pieces. Contrary to the belief that young artists must find their sense of style, she finds comfort in knowing that she does not have nor want an unquestionably distinct style. She wants to be able to produce a versatile array of artwork and does not want to be limited by the need for cohesion. If anything, her sense of style is purely tied to the themes she portrays. Her funky art forms and elements of comedy help make challenging issues easier to cope with.

Colorful and full of compelling oddities, Ali’s piece Nature Reflects Human Life is the culmination of hours of conceptual research, sketching, and painting. Not only is this painting visually striking and intriguing, but it also sparks dialogue about how nature and humanity are interconnected. The belief that nature reflects human life has a biting irony to it at first, but it subtly nods to the idea that human perception is first and foremost centered around the human experience. Lilah Ali’s artistic practice is unique because she is diverse in her materiality, tone, and subject matter; she consistently follows through with her ideas in a powerful way.