Nadia Ayari

Born in 1981, Tunis, Tunisia
Lives and works in New York

Nadia Ayari is a Tunisian-American artist whose vibrant and thought-provoking works straddle abstraction and figuration. Born to a Tunisian father and an American mother, Ayari moved to the United States in 2000 and pursued a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. In 2007, Ayari made New York City her home and set up a studio in the eclectic Lower East Side, dedicating herself fully to her artistic practice. Since then, she has been engaged in an exploration of multivalent narrative and form through paint. Hers is a unique lens through which western art histories such as Abstract Expressionism can be instrumentalized to describe a world lived in three languages and from a multitude of cultural positions.

Ayari’s artwork is characterized by her vivid oil paintings that delve into narratives of survival, intertwining the personal and the political. She constructs imaginary scenarios inspired by elements of the flora of her native North Africa, striking a unique fusion of natural and fantastical motifs. In her recent works, Ayari breathes life into thriving scenes of branches, pink flowers, and leaves, evoking a sense of motion and connection against all odds. These compositions, rendered in thick and meticulously applied oil paint, endow her creations with a substantial and tangible presence, enhancing their relatability to the viewer. Ayari’s work explores the intersection of personal experience and geopolitics, frequently narrating stories related to how socio-political conflicts impact individuals.