Layla Andrews (b.1997) is an artist currently based in Tracey Emin's studios in Margate.
Central to Layla’s practice is storytelling; the complexities of identity, celebrating simple joys and the juxtaposition of unlikely pairs.
Her work is concerned with what it feels like to be human. Her crocodile paintings, in particular, serve as a metaphor for resilience, reflecting on how we cope and manage in our ‘armour’. By placing crocodiles within human narratives, she questions why we often feel more empathy and connection toward animals exhibiting human traits than we do toward humans themselves. Her work also challenges the binary notions of good and bad that society operates by and also projects onto the natural world.
She was formerly the artist in residence of Brixton Village where she unveiled two large-scale sculptures and curated an exhibition for International Women's Day. In 2022 she was named as one of The Evening Standards ‘22 London women changing the world’. In 2016 her work caught the attention of former President Obama, who praised Layla's work and encouraged her to further her art career.
Layla draws upon her own mixed-race heritage and working-class upbringing, shaped within a matriarchal household, to inform and enrich her practice. Her work is grounded in the belief that art, in whatever form it may take, should be inclusive and accessible to all.
You can read more about Layla's work in Juxtapoz Magazine and Harper's Bazaar here.