LEES’ AYANA

“I believe creating has always been a part of my life,” says LEES, who never really decided to become an artist, rather, “I never saw myself doing anything other than rapping, drawing and playing basketball.” Growing up, her studies were mostly centered around performing, art and music. In college at Parsons, AYANA majored in Photography and produced her thesis project “Pretty Girl Blues,” identifying her main mediums as “the voice and the lens.” Her works helps her through her anxiety, almost as a type of therapy, although it’s not necessarily purposeful. Womanhood and sexuality are consistent subject matters. Based in East Orange , New Jersey and New York City, time management and dealing with outside opinions pose challenges to her professional creative life. Translating something so personal as art into a commercial setting” doesn’t account for how much she might change through the process of creation. She’s currently exhibiting her thesis project “Pretty Girl Blues” and also working on a film which will be the artist’s official foray into performance Art. Moving forward, she’s looking to “bridge the gap between photography and hip hop. I want to be a part of the movement that’s changing what being a ‘shooter’ means to young kids. I’m also showing what it means to be a professional in a urban setting. I’m focusing on growing myself as an artist in order to make the work that I believe needs to be in the world.” She’s excited to see a children’s book cover she shot for Harper Collins, which will be released in 2019. Stay tuned for LEES’ AYANA’s performance for the 2019 Soul Culture Festival of Jersey City.