AISHAH SIDDIQAH VAKILY
Aishah Vakily is a multimedia artist from Cornwall, Ontario who works primarily with paint and fabric, while occasionally venturing into the realm of installation. Based on her experience as a mixed Iranian-American Muslim woman living in the West, her work explores and critiques representations of Middle Eastern and Muslim people by challenging the ways in which dialogue is created about them, delving into themes of a multi-faceted gaze, the perceived “Foreign Other”, hierarchies of aesthetic, as well as the nuances of community representation from multiple angles. As a hijabi, fabric plays a large part in Vakily’s life, and so it comes to the forefront of many of her art pieces as a way of expressing identity. An important angle of analysis lies in what you as a viewer can and cannot see, with cloth and other methods or covering as significant motifs. The question Vakily would like to pose in her artistic practice is such: “In both literal and broad senses, who are you in relation to this work?”.
Vakily completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Ottawa, and currently practices there on unceded Algonquin Anishnaabeg territory. Her work has been shown in multiple galleries across Ontario, and has won the silver award in the 2021 NextGen Artist Awards.
Exhibitions
2022 – Figureworks 2022: Wallack Galleries, Ottawa, ON
2022 – Cross-Paths: LaLande + Doyle Exhibition Space, Shenkman Arts Centre, Ottawa, ON
2022 – Constellate: University of Ottawa Graduating Exhibition, 100 Laurier, Ottawa, ON
2022 – People Patterns: Gallery 115, Ottawa, ON
2022 – The NextGen Artists’ Awards Gallery
2019 – Outside the lines: Media Arts Gallery Group, University of Ottawa, ON
2019 – YAC: Your Arts Council, Cornwall & The Counties, Circulating Gallery. ON
2017 – CCVS Celebrates! Canada 150: Cornwall Public Library, ON
Education
2018-2022 – Bachelor of Fine Arts: University of Ottawa
Specialization in Painting & Drawing
Awards
2022 – Equity and Inclusion in the Arts Fund - SEED Award: City of Ottawa
2019-2022 – Merit Scholarship: University of Ottawa
2022 – Edmond and Isobel Ryan Scholarship (Painting)
2021 – EMW Scholarship for Women: University of Ottawa
2021 – Silver: The NextGen Artists’ Awards
2020 – Visual Arts Alumni Fund: University of Ottawa
2018 – Art Student Assistance Fund: University of Ottawa
2018 – Donaldena McIver Bursary: Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School
2018 – Helga Sarkozy Scholarship: University of Ottawa
Publications
2022 – Constellate Catalogue
2020 – The Feminist Word, Issue 7
“Corresponding Parallels of Prayer”
Media
2022 – “Normalizing the Foreign Other” by Minna Siddiqui, February 18, 2022