Layla Andrews (b. 1997) is an artist currently working from Tracey Emin's (TKE) studios in Margate.
Her paintings explore the complexities of the human condition; the ways we navigate, endure, and make sense of the world. Rooted in emotional experience, her paintings reflect the duality of our fragility and our resilience.
Storytelling is at the centre of her practice. Layla has a degree in History, Literature, and Culture; she is interested in the relationship between intergenerational and personal narratives, her paintings often alluding to a sense of memory and loss. Through layered symbolism, juxtapositions of joy and grief, familiarity with the surreal, Layla traces configurations of identity, memory and belonging hoping that the deeply personal works will create more broadly a reflection of our complicated, often contradictory shared human experience.
Anthropomorphic crocodiles inhabiting intimate and domestic settings play a significant role within her work. These creatures provide familiarity and thus foster connection and empathy by transcending traditional depictions of the self. Layla describes these paintings as ‘seeing our humanity reflected back at us in unexpected forms’. To her, crocodiles symbolise endurance, wisdom, and serve as both a mirror to the self and a veil over it- an ancient witness to our triumphs and follies having existed long before humans.
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 one of The Evening Standard’s “22 London Women Changing the World”. Layla’s work has received personal praise from President Barack Obama and has been showcased in publications such as Harper’s Bazaar, Juxtapoz and Glass Magazines 50th issue spotlighting rising British female talent.
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 and her work here in her recent feature with The Wick Culture.
Her paintings explore the complexities of the human condition; the ways we navigate, endure, and make sense of the world. Rooted in emotional experience, her paintings reflect the duality of our fragility and our resilience.
Storytelling is at the centre of her practice. Layla has a degree in History, Literature, and Culture; she is interested in the relationship between intergenerational and personal narratives, her paintings often alluding to a sense of memory and loss. Through layered symbolism, juxtapositions of joy and grief, familiarity with the surreal, Layla traces configurations of identity, memory and belonging hoping that the deeply personal works will create more broadly a reflection of our complicated, often contradictory shared human experience.
Anthropomorphic crocodiles inhabiting intimate and domestic settings play a significant role within her work. These creatures provide familiarity and thus foster connection and empathy by transcending traditional depictions of the self. Layla describes these paintings as ‘seeing our humanity reflected back at us in unexpected forms’. To her, crocodiles symbolise endurance, wisdom, and serve as both a mirror to the self and a veil over it- an ancient witness to our triumphs and follies having existed long before humans.
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 one of The Evening Standard’s “22 London Women Changing the World”. Layla’s work has received personal praise from President Barack Obama and has been showcased in publications such as Harper’s Bazaar, Juxtapoz and Glass Magazines 50th issue spotlighting rising British female talent.
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 and her work here in her recent feature with The Wick Culture.