Akilah Watts
Akilah works with a number of media including drawing, painting, mixed media, sculpture as well as high and low relief paintings.
Some of her works deal with pop culture and cultural exchange as well as Barbadian folklore and traditions through ideas of play and souvenirs. Watts’ new works touch on issues such as race, culture as well as ideas of belonging and beauty.
mahogany culture: exposition
Sweet like Coconut Jelly - 18" x 18"
Five Finger Felicia - 12" x 12"
Sweet Sandra - 12" x 12"
Akilah Watts is a contemporary Barbadian artist who works with many media including drawing, painting and mixed media. Watts graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor's Degree in Studio Art and went on the participate in Prizm Art Fair in December of that same year.
Watts has exhibited locally (Barbados) in several group exhibitions as well as internationally in Miami and Romania. She has also been featured in a few local publications such as the Easy magazine, Barbados Today and the Exporter magazine. And in March 2019, Akilah exhibited in her first-ever solo exhibition at the Frame & Art Co.
Watts’ current work focuses on black hair and the relationship she has with her Caribbean roots through the creation of her painted backgrounds which display some Caribbean fruits, vegetables, baked goods, snacks, and plant life that she would have grown up seeing. Her series entitled Beautifully Braided is Watts’ way of exploring ideas of the exotic or paradise in her island of Barbados.