About
Who?
I’m Ayla Marika, a visual artist and illustrator based near Canberra and Goulburn, Australia. I specialise in hand-drawn illustration using ink pen, graphite, charcoal, as well as digital painting, print and collage. The illustration I produce is 100% hand-drawn using traditional mediums (eg pen on paper), which is then subjected to various degrees of digital manipulation. I appreciate classical drawing technique including figure and anatomical drawing, and I consider good craftsmanship and technique essential to my art production and illustration. I am excited by the artistic possibilities of books, marketing and public relations and tie these into my art practice as well.
Style
I am inspired by music (psy, rock, metal), art nouveau, nostalgic vintage stuff, early cartoons, psychedelia, and pre-modern imagery. Topics I am interested in are the subconscious mind, food and drug culture, esoteric spirituality, and the natural environment. Visual artists I am influenced by include M.C. Escher, Ralph Steadman, Salvador Dali, Hokusai, Van Gogh, Chris Ware and Akseli Gallen-Kallela. I am drawn to psychedelic and ‘outsider’ art because of it’s purity of inner expression, mental exploration and ignorance of the art establishment, and I am a sucker for optical art and excellent music album art.
Qualifications
Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) 2017 Curtin University of Technology
Advanced Diploma of Public Relations 2014 Canberra Institute of Technology
Certificate IV in Screen and Media 2014 Canberra Institute of Technology
Certificate IV in Business Administration 2012 Canberra Institute of Technology
Diploma of Music Industry (Technical) 2008 Canberra Institute of Technology
Diploma of Music Industry (Business) 2008 Canberra Institute of Technology