AYESHA JONES

Festival Speaker

Ayesha Jones was born in 1990, in Birmingham, UK. She studied Photography at the University of Central Lancashire and graduated in 2012.

Ayesha works with photography and film and is interested in art as a catalyst for growth, understanding, healing and connection.

Her self portrait project ‘Imperfection’ uses her own spinal deformity (90 degree Idiopathic Scoliosis), and subsequent spinal fusion surgery, to unpick the distortion of the female experience in western society and its impact on young girls and women.

Throughout her practice she has attempted to explore her own identity, as someone coming from a mixed heritage family (Welsh and Kittitian heritage). ‘Where Do You Come From?’ is a film and photo project that uses her experiences of being asked “where do you come from… originally?” And having to explain her family history to strangers since the age of 5 years old. It exposes the reality of being in between; not feeling like you belong in the UK but also not feeling like you belong in the lands your ancestors once called home either.

From the series ***Where Do You Come From*** ©Alysha Jones

In 2022 Ayesha exhibited Motherland as part of Coventry City of Culture, in a woodland in Coventry. This work explored identity further as she moved to West Africa, where she gave birth to her now 6 year old son.

From the series ***Motherland*** ©Alysha Jones

The work looks at how identity and stories are passed down from generation to generation, with each one adding their own chapter. The exhibition also pointed to the fact that humans will always be a part of the natural world and connected to one another by design, regardless of; skin colour, heritage or economic status.