Aisha Mbaya is shifting how Northern women are viewed through dark, futuristic art

A lot of conversations about Northern culture revolve around how certain parts of it are archaic and should be outdated. While that might be partly true, this artist shifts the conversation by using the perceived limitations of culture as a tool to tell important stories in ways that feel real.

Aisha Mbaya’s version of showing the Northern woman does not ask for a rejection of culture, nor blind acceptance of it.

She is creating a moving world that incorporates history and futurism as she emphasizes that without the old, there is no new. She’s somewhere in between, and she is here to stay.

Her dark approach to telling these stories is not about showing her culture in a bad way, not at all. She embraces the fact that there are darker parts to it, the bruises, the stories that serve as scars, and that they are also beautiful, not just the softer representations.

In this conversation, she brings us into her beautiful journey, her world and her aspirations.

Can you introduce yourself and your practice?

My name is Mbaya Aisha and I identify as a multidisciplinary artist. I work across painting, sculpture, photography, and digital art. I started practising professionally at 15. Since then, I’ve continued building my practice and exploring different mediums.

I was fortunate to attend a secondary school that supported the arts, and I also had very supportive parents, especially my dad. They really allowed me to be myself, and that helped shape my confidence as an artist.

Was art always the plan for you?

Interestingly, no. I originally wanted to study marine biology. But sometime in SS3, I suddenly changed my mind and decided I wanted to study art instead.

My school encouraged students to apply for scholarships abroad ,but decided to study art in Nigeria because I felt it would help me if I studied art within the Nigerian framework.

He advised me to apply to the Federal College of Education, Zaria’s art school, so I researched it and eventually told my dad that this was the direction I wanted to take. My parents were very supportive.

What was art school like for you?

It was honestly very challenging at first. I had passion, but I didn’t yet have the technical skill many of my classmates had.

I remember one of our first realism drawing classes. We had to draw the person sitting in front of us within twenty minutes. After the exercise, the lecturer selected the five best drawings and the five worst drawings. Mine was not only among the worst five, it was the worst overall.

That moment really shook me. I started wondering if I had made the biggest mistake of my life by giving up scholarship opportunities to pursue art.

People often assume that because you’re passionate about art, studying it will automatically be easy. But it wasn’t. For me, it felt even harder because I was learning almost everything from scratch.

Then I spoke to one of my lecturers, Professor Jerry Buhari and he told me that if I had made it that far, then there was a reason for it. He asked me to compare my earlier works to my newer ones, and when I looked through my sketchbooks, I realised there really had been improvement.

He encouraged me to keep working harder and eventually, I became one of the top students in my set.

How did studying art shape the way you approach your career now?

Studying art taught me a lot about discipline and exploration. I never wanted to limit myself to one path. Originally, I wanted to study arts curation, so while I was painting and sculpting, I was also deeply invested in art history. I still practise both today. I strongly believe artists never stop learning.

I’ve worked with galleries, art directors, and exhibited both physically and digitally. Before my physical paintings started gaining attention, my digital works were already being exhibited internationally.

Your work has a very distinct visual language. How did your themes and style develop?

Even in school, people always associated my work with women. Every time I exhibited something, people would immediately recognise it and say, “This is definitely Aisha’s work.”

I realised very early that I was constantly drawn to stories about women, especially stories people don’t always want to talk about. A lot of representations of women focus only on softness or beauty, which is important too, but I also want to explore bruises, scars, pain, endurance, and survival.

The darker aesthetic in my work also comes very naturally to me. I’ve always been drawn to gothic and alternative visuals. I grew up consuming fantasy games, comics, anime, and darker visual worlds. Those influences shaped how I sketch and think visually.

How do you incorporate your Northern identity into your work?

I’m interested in representing Northern women in a fuller and more complex way. A lot of Northern cultures are slowly becoming flattened into one image. People often reduce everyone in the North to one identity, calling everyone “Hausawa” or assuming the culture is only about hijabs, abayas, or religious dress.

But the North is incredibly diverse. Different communities have their own histories, colours, traditions, and visual languages. In my recent works, especially the series I’m currently developing, I’ve been exploring stories of women from both Northern Nigeria and other cultures as well. I want to show people the beauty, resilience, and individuality of Northern women beyond stereotypes.

Another important part of my work is addressing the strength of women within systems of oppression. A lot of Northern women endure deeply difficult realities, and I want those stories to exist visibly within contemporary art.