Leila Abrahams

Leila Abrahams is an interdisciplinary artist from Cape Town, South Africa. Her practice weaves together aspects of her personal histories drawing from her experiences with grief, mental health and chronic illness. Her decade-long journey with the condition of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is foundational to her artistic inquiries. Using materials ubiquitous within the medical practice; gel capsules and blister packs, Abrahams gestures at a new vocabulary to approach difficult conversations around invisible ailments. At the heart of her deeply intimate and embodied practice, is a yearning to find ways to navigate her own illness while also creating space for less stigma and more compassion. Through an abstract and minimalist language emphasised by the careful placement of materials, Abrahams creates beauty, harmony and order —which in turn become subtle acts of resistance. She reflects; “My work speaks to the overwhelming nature of chronic medication and the waves of emotion that accompany the experience. I came to accept my medication as something I take daily but that no longer has power over me.” 

 

Abrahams obtained a BA(FA) from the Michaelis School of Fine Art (University of Cape Town) in 2021. In 2022, she participated in the group exhibition; Within the Fold at Smac Gallery in Johannesburg. Abrahams is the inaugural artist in residence with The Ramp Residency in Cape Town (2022).