AYANNA ANEESA RAFIA

Ayanna Aneesa Rafia (b. 2002, Southfield, MI; lives and works in Brooklyn, NY) creates layered paintings that explore memory, identity, and transformation. A 2024 BFA graduate of the University of Michigan, she incorporates insights from her study of interior architecture program in Copenhagen, Denmark, to examine the harmony between the personal and the structural. Her process-based approach involves building layers of paint—a record of her evolving self—an embodiment of her emotions, lived experiences, and personal reflections at a given moment. These layers accumulate over time, mirroring the intricate, nonlinear unfolding of life, and results in compositions that balance reflection and discovery.

EDUCATION

UniversIty of Michigan - Bachelor of Fine Arts

DIS Copenhagen – Study Abroad: Interior Architecture

2024

  • University of Michigan LEAD Scholar (2021-2024)

  • Dean’s List Honoree (2021-2024)

  • Tamer International Grant Recipient (2023)

  • Candy R. Wei Scholarship Recipient (2024)

EXHIBITIONS

2024

  • Undergraduate Juried Exhibition; The University of Michigan–Stamps Gallery. Ann Arbor, MI.

  • Bearing New Leaves (Spring Will Bring Me Back To You); Café Zola. Ann Arbor, MI.

  • Art in Legislature; Anderson House Office Building. Lansing, MI.