BIOGRAPHY
Aadila Munshi is a contemporary artist living and working in Toronto, Canada. She is a former Criminologist from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and her art is informed by cross-continental experiences and a third world perspective. She creates her own abstract visual language that invites reflection on the constructs of identity, belonging, memory and nostalgia in a rapidly evolving world.
Grounded in the aesthetics of street art, her asemic calligraffiti explores the universal human quest for home.
Her most recent ‘Inner Poetry’ series of originals brings her signature calligraffiti forms in focus. Each painting is an eloquent manifestation of the artist’s inner reflections, poetry, and passion for writing. Her rhythmic, meditative forms invite interpretation and connection beyond language barriers, providing a contemplative space for all.
With over 25 years of experience in painting, her work is commissioned and held in corporate and private collections worldwide.
She recently completed a large-scale corporate commission for The Daniels Corporation of two over-sized pieces, measuring 14ftx8ft each. The artwork is permanently installed in the lobby of The Lighthouse East Tower, Toronto.
My paintings are meaningful, evocative, and ultimately inspired by our human condition.
I experienced apartheid, its demise, and the first ever free and fair election in South Africa, electing Nelson Mandela as the President. I had the rare privilege to often meet the President and his contemporaries, most notably his Minister of Justice, Dullah Omar, in whose home I was welcomed as family. These legendary giants of the freedom struggle served as my mentors for years, and strongly shaped my views on strength, tolerance, freedom, and humanity. My experience in the South African socio-political scene was deepened by my work as a Criminologist at the University of Cape Town.
‘In the latest evolution of my work, I have cast a spotlight on my signature hand-style. This dynamic calligraffiti is found in my personal sketchbooks and in the layers of my urban abstract pieces. In a new collection of paintings, titled ‘Inner Poetry’, I have magnified and presented this writing in lyrical form on canvas. These written forms are strong and graceful at once, and through this work I intuit my fortitude, my femininity, and my belief in the necessity of human interdependence for us to evolve, exist in peace, and prosper together.’ - Aadila.