Photograph by kya. Garment by Desiree Scarborough.
Kalila Ain (b. 1998) is an artist and illustrator based in Brooklyn, New York. She began her formal education at the High School of Art & Design and Art Students League of New York; studying oil painting and fresco restoration at Istituto Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, Italy before earning her bachelor's degree in painting and art history from SUNY Purchase in 2020. Kalila’s work is held in the public collections of the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in New York City and The Colored Girls Museum of Philadelphia, PA. Kalila Ain has exhibited in group shows at New York University, HAUSEN, Photoville, and Kentucky Center for African American Heritage among others. Her work has been featured in HuffPost, Office Magazine, The New Yorker, and NYU Arts Digest. She is the illustrator of children's book Life is Fine and her painting My Mother Named Me Beloved was selected by New York University’s Center for Black Visual Culture to represent their Black Rest Project Initiative.
My creative practice is informed by an overwhelming desire to see healing in our world. I am curious about the human condition and how a seemingly mundane moment can become a luminous and otherworldly source of epiphanic connection. Themes throughout my work include healing from breaking, birth and creation, union, memory, spirit and sovereignty. By paying reverence to forces unseen, I invite and empower viewers to recognize the intangible.
Education
Expected 2026 Masters in Business Administration, Leonard Stern School of Business, New York University
2020 Bachelors of Science, SUNY Purchase, Painting and Art History
2020 NYC Critique Club, Career Intensive, Hilary Doyle & Sonia Louise Davis
2018 Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici, Firenze, Italia (Fresco Restoration & Painting)
Experience
2022 Teaching Assistant, Black Body and the Lens, Deborah Willis Ph.D. College of Arts & Science, New York University
2022 Mentee to Fahamu Pecou, Unlock Her Potential
2021 Apprenticeship, DEAR Cohort (Digital Evolution/Artist Retention) Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute
2020 Teaching Assistant, Materials and Techniques, Hilary Doyle. SUNY Purchase
2019 Arts Education Intern, Neuberger Museum of Art. Purchase, New York
Visiting Artist & Lectures
2023 ‘Tricia Hersey Rest is Resistance' Center for Black Visual Culture, New York University
2023 Brighter Choice Community School, Brooklyn, NY
2019 ‘Hydronoir’ Learning Symposium. SUNY Purchase.
2017 Kwanzaa Fest ‘Hydronoir’ Brooklyn, NY.
Publication
2023 “Artist Interview Cornelius Tulloch & Kalila Ain,” Vendah, CUE Art Foundation
2022 Illustrator, ‘Life is Fine’ written by Deardra Zahara Duncan
2021 Community Writing Journal, Volume 1, Issue 2. Blue Door Art Center
2020 Italics Mine Issue 17
Press
2023 “The Visual Power of Black Rest” by Emily Lordi, The New Yorker
2023 “Rest is Power is a Stunning Expression of Black People Reclaiming Their Peace” by Sage Howard, HuffPost
2023 “Visual Narratives from the Black Rest Project: Rest is Power” by Samuel Getachew, Office Magazine
2023 NYU Arts Digest, Issue 5, New York University
2020 “See Art Through Our Eyes” by Louis Jacobson. Washington City Paper
Awards
2023 Laundromat Project Grant
2019 PCA Scholarship Fund
2018 In Praise of Merit Scholarship
2017 Windgate A&D Scholarship
2017 SOA Abeles
2017 E&E Grant Merit Scholarship
2016 D&R Maass Scholarship
2016 Orisa Community Development Corporation Scholarship
Exhibition History
2024 ‘Celebrating the Black Experience’ Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, Louisville, KY.
2023 ‘Rest is Power’ Center for Black Visual Culture at NYU, Co-curated by Deborah Willis, Joan Morgan, Kira J. Williams
2023 ‘Mirror with A Memory’ Photoville Festival, curated by Editha Mesina.
2023 ‘A Woman’s Woman’s Woman’s World’ HAUSEN, Co-Curated by Usen Esiet and Marie-Ange Zibi.
2022 ‘Mirror with A Memory’ Tisch Department of Photo & Imaging, New York University curated by Editha Mesina.
2021 ‘The PORTRAIT’ Tussle Projects
2020 ‘Through Our Eyes’ Sponsored by DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, Curated by Emmanuel Massillon.
2020 Art+Design Senior Show SUNY Purchase, NY
2019 ’First Time I Ever Saw Your Face’ The Colored Girls Museum, Philadelphia, PA.
2017 Kwanzaa Fest ‘Hydronoir’ Brooklyn, NY.
2017 OAPIA African Diaspora Fashion Show ‘Don’t Touch My Hair’ Purchase, NY.
2017 Afrodisiac SUNY Purchase, NY.
2017 Iona College Culture Show Rochelle, NY.
2017 BlckLounge Purchase, NY.
Collections
2019 ‘The Reneissance Woman’ Model: Reneissance Francis, The Colored Girls Museum Permanent Collection Philadelphia, PA. USA.
2016 Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. NY. USA
2015 Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. New York, NY. USA
Selected Features
2022 Press Image. The Black Rest Project. Center for Black Visual Culture, New York University.
2021 Tussle Projects
2020 Black Mentor Network
2020 ‘Form No Form’ 24 Hour Interactive Channel