Layla Khani
Layla Khani – Born in Tehran, 1972
My aspirations come from the world around me. The Malvern Hills and its beautiful landscape, my little son and my feelings towards the events in both my life and our world. Growing up in an artistic family of musicians and artists I developed an early interest in music and painting. Most of my times in my adolescent years were spent on learning the piano and perfecting my drawing skills.
I graduated from the University of Worcester with BA in Art and Design and later on I got my MA from the Birmingham City University (BIAD) in Visual Communications. Throughout my years at university I developed a keen interest in printmaking and in the past few years, it has become the main outlet for my creativity. I carve stories of my own on linoleum, based on my experience both as a mother and a woman in an ever changing world that at times feels like a constant war between chaos and bliss. Sometimes when we take a walk with my son through beautiful Malvern we look the world in terms of colours. We decide what colour is best suited for certain moments of our leisurely stroll and at the end we decide which colour can be named the main colour of that day. This can be clearly seen in my works, they are multicoloured, multi dimensional landscapes within landscapes with every piece belonging to a certain moment that had an impact on me. They are impressions of my emotions clothed in many colours and characters that although they might feel separated they are all parts of one big story.