ayla mortada and aesthetic disobedience

ayla mortada, a lebanese illustrator and graphic designer, consistently shatters the colonial prism through which the world typically consumes ar t from the region. rebellious, irreverent, chaotic, psychedelic, and colorful are all words that come to mind when experiencing her body of work as she revolutionizes arabic pop ar t one political statement at a time.

interview by Ralph arida

how would you describe your work?

i would describe my work as becoming more political and activistic with time. it has evolved to a place where it is no longer just art for the sake of art, but rather intentional and with a specific message that is more accessible to the general masses. art can be very introspective and self-centered, and i wanted to break free from that, especially after the 2019 revolution in beirut. i felt the need to make art that was meaningful, that comes with a purpose, and that raises awareness not only for our community, but to the global community as well. in general though, my work has rebellious sensitivities. it is unapologetic, but also mature. it is basically organized chaos.

what is your biggest inspiration?

living in beirut, within the chaos, navigating through it, and finding ways to use it to your advantage was a big source of inspiration. adbusters and their unapologetic approach was another big source of inspiration. music and album covers also played a big part, mainly the psychedelic ones inspired by the art nouveau movement, and finally, comic books.

there is a noticeable fluidity in your work. is that deliberate?

i love giving a sense of motion within my work. i love animation, and although i am not an animator, i feel that all of my work is a ground base for animation. i don’t animate. even if i can concept the heck out of anything, i cannot spend hours tweaking technical stuff. i prefer focusing on the bigger picture.

your work varies from the commercial to the grassroots. does your process differ accordingly?

i try to keep that same punk attitude to my work, even on more commercial projects, although it is a workaround because most clients want mass-appeal. in the end, if it is commercial, i think more than i feel, and when it is grassroots, i feel more than i think. my goal is to never lose the rebellious foundation that fuels my work, no matter the type of work.

you’ve had both agency and freelance experience. which one suits you best?

definitely freelance, but only because i have agency experience. an agency is like bootcamp, where you’re more process oriented, and freelance could be more chaotic, if you’ve never experienced working with a process.

you were born and raised in lebanon. how would you describe your relationship with your country of birth?

it’s a love-hate, toxic relationship. i wouldn’t wish to be born anywhere else, because of what it teaches you and how it builds character. in lebanon, you learn to live within the cracks, which is something westerners cannot handle. you learn to make the best out of nothing, and living there and doing that made me a much more intentional person, who doesn’t take anything for granted. lebanon taught me to do the best with what I have.

how has lebanon informed your creativity?

nowadays, i feel like we have more respect for our heritage than we used to. before, we were always looking out for what the west was doing, as though their way was the “right” way. now, there’s a counter-realization that we need to figure things out our way, and create our own guidelines, based on what our ancestors did. there is a renewed love for craftsmanship, tradition, and our heritage. growing up, all of our visual inspiration was western: the comic books, the music videos, the concert posters... now i look towards iranian and egyptian design which is so well archived. people get to look back, communally sit together and create stuff that is new and fresh, and yet so connected to the yesteryears. this adds a lot of richness to the work. in lebanon, we never really archived any of that, so lebanese designers have a hard time to get inspired by our predecessors, because it is basically impossible to reach those resources.

if you were to illustrate lebanon as a whole, what would it look like?

definitely a mishmash. a kaleidoscopic interpretation where things are refracting and shattered, where you have both sunny and dark. in lebanon, so much is crammed into such a tiny place. i guess it would look like lebanon: organized chaos, but leaning more toward the chaotic side.

what is the hardest thing about being an expat when it comes to your creative process?

being an expat helps, because it allows you to see things from the outside. you can simmer on to your experiences without having the burden of dealing with the daily micro-aggressions. however, when you are outside, your nostalgic goggles are on, whereas being in lebanon paves the way for more authentic expression. i guess the hardship of being an expat comes from not getting the raw material that you would get when you are immersed in the country. there’s a vulnerability that comes with putting your work out there as an artist.

do you ever hesitate before sharing your work?

definitely. i even hesitate while working. you’re basically sharing a part of your soul out there, which is way more intense than sharing a selfie. you need to let go. sometimes, artists take themselves a little bit too seriously, and they just end up sharing for the sake of engagement or validation. i am not a content creator. i am not going to work for the sake of posting something. what makes me feel good is creating something for the community, as opposed to creating pieces that are only good for me.

the arab art scene is making a big mark on the world right now. why should the world seek art from the region?

i think everyone is bored to bits with the narrative of the super well-off outlook on life. arabs are struggling. we are hustlers, and that gives us a unique point of view. the mic is being taken away from white privilege and is being passed around to communities that have new things to say, and bring fresh and authentic perspectives. you were part of the “arab women for the arts” showcase in the united states.

what is the biggest misconception about arab women artists in the west that you would like to debunk?

the west really loves having that “suffragette moment” of women being liberated from men, religion and government despite all odds. it always comes back to arab women being oppressed. yes, we are oppressed. we struggle with our government and our religions, but we have a lot more to say than that. it is not as black and white as they try to depict it. in that specific exhibition, none of that was the core of the matter. we were simply artists expressing ourselves.

what is your take on labels for artists: women artists, arab artists, etc.?

i guess it helps people to contextualize art, and to explain it for them, which could also be a bad thing. artists should be able to speak to their audience in the way they choose to.

your art always has an activistic twist to it. according to you, what is the role of an artist in times like these?

our role as artists is to shed light on those who are being sidelined. there is so much happening around the world, and so many communities are being affected and screwed over by colonial and imperialist regimes. nowadays, things are more prone to being shared when they are visual. the ai-generated rafah image gathered 50-million-plus shares on social media. that says a lot about the potential visual artists have to raise awareness on several issues plaguing the world as we speak.

ai keeps making headlines these days. in your opinion, is ai a threat, a tool, or both?

the livelihood of some people depends on their drawing. it’s disconcerting to see a potent ai that is growing even more powerful at the expense of artists’ blood, sweat, and tears. for example, whenever you upload and save things on adobe, you are agreeing to feed the ai machine with what you just did. of course, it’s a threat. i don’t see anyone lobbying for artists in our current climate. i want ai in the kitchen, in the bathroom, and to clean my house, while i focus on my art.

social media, namely instagram, has been instrumental to artists for a while. nevertheless, many artists are fleeing instagram due to meta’s ai program. what’s your take?

most visual artists are moving to cara. however, this platform only has artists, and let’s face it, we are not the ones with the money. the consumers, clients, and contacts are still on instagram. i wouldn’t delete my instagram account just yet, but eventually, sure.

what’s next for ayla mortada?

some cool stuff is coming, hopefully. i met some interesting people in france recently, which could lead to a political project that targets the french community, namely the arab community in france.