Painting

‘butterfly effect’, mixed media ©joannalayla 2012 I am working on a mixed media series inspired by my experiences in Haiti called ‘butterfly effect’ – attempting to capture in a single moment both the random cruelty of nature and the fragility of humanity….I was repeatedly asked by the haitians I met “what is the next disaster… earthquake… cholera….what next?” as if I could predict the next disaster, as a european holding some great power over their destiny… a haunting sense of powerlessness… the essence of the butterfly effect for more on this work in progress, see my blog http://joannalayla.blogspot.co.uk/

detail from ‘butterfly effect’, mixed media ©joannalayla 2012

lebensfreude (zyklus) / joy of life (cycle), butterfly effect series commission; mixed media on canvas ©joannalayla 2012

detail from lebensfreude (zyklus) / joy of life (cycle), butterfly effect series commission; mixed media on canvas ©joannalayla 2012

‘listening’; from a series of portraits of Londoners of Chinese descent to be exhibited as part of a group show at Juno, Shoreditch in January 2013; acrylic and oli on canvas ©joannalayla 2012

listening; from a series of portraits of Londoners of Chinese descent to be exhibited as part of a group show at Juno, Shoreditch in January 2013; acrylic and oli on canvas ©joannalayla 2012

‘white wash’ (Daria)
I met Daria in the Carrefour slums of Haiti – the eldest child in a family living amidst a sea of tarpaulin. As she spoke to me, with one hand she restrained her other clenched fist – anger and responsibility written in a single gesture. My chalk portrait seemed to be the only record of her story – here half remembered in the original trace of chalk. This piece plays with the idea that when poverty, race and sex conspire the female narrative is whitewashed from history save for the insubstantial mark of paint.
acrylic, chalk, ink on canvas ©joannalayla 2012

‘face’ – a piece I created for a day’s photo shoot as part of photographer Sandra Bello’s photo documentation of an artist’s life ©joannalayla 2012

$creating work from the sketchbooks I drew in haiti - thinking about whether fractured childhood can be reconstructed with building blocks - and inspired by ultramarine and burnt umber paint: "beyond the sea (of tarpaulin), burnt shadows, HAITI" work in progress, acrylic, charcoal, oil, paint marker, chalk, pencil on reclaimed furniture parts ©joannalayla 2012$: creating work from the sketchbooks I drew in haiti – thinking about whether fractured childhood can be reconstructed with building blocks – and inspired by ultramarine and burnt umber paint: “beyond the sea (of tarpaulin), burnt shadows, HAITI” work in progress, acrylic, charcoal, oil, paint marker, chalk, pencil on reclaimed furniture parts ©joannalayla 2012

“beyond the sea (of tarpaulin), burnt shadows, HAITI” work in progress, acrylic, charcoal, oil, paint marker, chalk, pencil on reclaimed furniture parts ©joannalayla 2012

“beyond the sea (of tarpaulin), burnt shadows, HAITI” work in progress, acrylic, charcoal, oil, paint marker, chalk, pencil on reclaimed furniture parts ©joannalayla 2012

: Dasha, Haiti, charcoal and acrylic on reclaimed furniture parts ©joannalayla 2012

: Dasha, working from the sketchbooks I made in Haiti, charcoal and acrylic on reclaimed furniture parts ©joannalayla 2012

for more on this series of paintings, see my blog http://joannalayla.blogspot.co.uk/

: over a year and a half since I was in Haiti and I have only just found the strength inside me to start developing the work from my Haiti sketchbooks; spray paint, acrylic, sharpie and charcoal on reclaimed furniture parts ©joannalayla 2012

for more on this series of paintings, see my blog http://joannalayla.blogspot.co.uk/

detail from antenna galaxy series 2, acrylic, oil, resin, sharpie, liquid latex ©joannalayla 2012

for more on this series of paintings, see my blog http://joannalayla.blogspot.co.uk/

detail from antenna galaxy series 2, acrylic, oil, resin, sharpie, liquid latex ©joannalayla 2012

work in progress, antenna galaxy series 2; acrylic, oil, resin, sharpie, liquid latex ©joannalayla 2012

detail from antenna galaxy series 1; the first in a series of mixed media pieces inspired by antenna galaxies – the collision of macro and micro universes; acrylic and liquid latex ©joannalayla 2012

for more on this series of paintings, see my blog http://joannalayla.blogspot.co.uk/