Anya Paintsil
Anya Paintsil is a Welsh and Ghanaian artist who has worked primarily with textiles since her teenage years.
Amusing and aesthetic, autobiographical and powerful, Paintsil’s artistic visual imagery explores the materiality of embroidery and tapestry, derived from her heritage, childhood memories, and responses to Welsh and Ghanaian cultural narratives and mythologies.
Anya Paintsil.
“My practice is a mix of autobiographical narrative and storytelling. Both the techniques and stories I relay in my works come from my heritage and I look to my personal history–childhood experiences, family legends, memories, as well as Welsh and Ghanaian mythologies and folklore I grew up with.”
About:
Having graduated from Manchester School of Art with a BA in Fine Art in 2020, Paintsil started her artistic practice during her teenage years and began working as a professional artist during the last year of her BA. Paintsil’s artistic oeuvre is a myriad of personal narration and storytelling in response to her dual cultural heritage.
Anya Paintsil, Dim Ond Ni, 2021. Acrylic, wool, human hair, synthetic hair on hessian, 327 x 157 cm.
Growing up as a mixed-race Welsh speaker in a predominantly white community in North Wales in the 1990s, Paintsil’s works Dim Ond Ni and Ni Yn Unig both respond to her and her sister’s early childhood experiences of racism and alienation in the community. The titles translate to “only us” and “just us” in Welsh.
Anya Paintsil, Ni Yn Unig, 2020. Punch needled acrylic, cotton and human hair on hessian, 177 x 99 cm.
Taking inspiration from Paintsil’s personal experiences growing up in North Wales, Anya or Anum relates to the experience of depersonalisation one encounters when one is constantly mistaken for another person due to vaguely similar racial characteristics.
Anya Paintsil, Anya Or Anum, 2020. Acrylic, wood, human hair, kanekalon hair on hessian, 238 x 142 cm.
Apart from her autobiographical storytelling through the process of artistic creation, Paintsil also responds to Welsh and Ghanaian mythologies and folklore she grew up with. Her work Siamese Crocodiles refers to the Akan Proverb with an Adinkra symbol of “Funtunfunefu Denkyemfunefu,” a symbol of unity. As the proverb goes, “The Siamese crocodiles share one stomach, yet they fight over food.” It acts as a reminder of the importance of working together for collective benefit and the common good.
Anya Paintsil, Mam, Mair a fi, 2020. Wool, acrylic, cotton, human hair and synthetic hair on hessian, 96.5 x 88.9 cm.
Anya Paintsil, Behind Every Deceitful Man, 2022. Acrylic, wool, mohair and alpaca on hessian, 70 x 68 cm.
Paintsil took inspiration from Rhiannon, a character from the Mabinogion–a compilation of Welsh folk tales–who was always accompanied by three magical birds, when she created the work entitled When there are no trees birds will perch on men’s heads. The work takes its title and composition from a literal visualisation of an Akan proverb. With this work, Paintsil enjoyed finding connection and convergence between both Welsh and Ghanaian cultural narratives that have formed her cultural identity as a Welsh and Ghanaian artist.
Anya Paintsil, When there are no trees birds will perch on men’s heads, 2022. Acrylic, wool, mohair, synthetic hair and hessian on hessian, 127 x 113 cm.
Anya Paintsil, Siamese Crocodiles, 2022. Acrylic, wool, mohair, synthetic hair, human hair and plastic bead on hessian, 103 x 95 cm.
Recently, Paintsil exhibited a solo show with Ed Cross Fine Art in London, named We Are All Made Of You, where she presented a number of works inspired by the Mabinogion and Akan proverbs interspersed with portraits of her family. She is currently developing a body of work for another solo show to be shown in New York later this year.
Selected Exhibitions
2022, We Are All Made Of You, Solo Show, Ed Cross Fine Art, London
2021, In the Beginning, Ed Cross Fine Art, London
Selected Press
2022, Textile Artist Anya Paintsil Incorporates Humor, Hair And Folklore to Tell Stories of Her Dual Heritage, Creative Boom
2022, Rising Art Star Anya Paintsil Weaves Powerful Personal Stories With Tapestry, Galerie
2021, Seven Questions With Anya Paintsil, Art UK
Selected Awards
Wakelin Prize 2020 (exhibited at the Glynn Vivian in 2021)
Danni Han
Emerging Artists Co-Editor, MADE IN BED