Artist Statement

Laila Filmore is a Detroit artist. She has been drawing, painting and writing stories since her childhood, when art became a way of grounding and contextualizing her experiences. Her oil paintings are set in surreal conditions, whilst she uses her personal identity and appearance to act as a tool to provide a message. Her work is centered around collective individualism. It’s an exploration of our shared psychological framework and the different ways we bend it to fit our lived context. Our environments truly mold the lenses in which we relate to our core humanity.

“ Painting has always felt like me trying to make my own hieroglyphics. I try to communicate through symbols and references, contorting my own flesh and pain into something that now holds it’s own space and is comprehensive to the audience. I like to imagine it as me breaking off into smaller cells that embody aspects of the internal and external traits of humanity. It acts as a metaphor for our collective individuality.” - Laila***