Aili (pronounced “eye-lee”) has spent the last thirty years studying, teaching, and working as an artist—in the realms of both fine art and graphic design. Raised in Yellowknife, N.W.T., Aili left the North to study painting at the Ontario College of Art (Toronto) and Ecole des Beaux Arts (Montreal) where she completed a four-year Fine Arts Diploma. She then went on to receive a B.A. in Art Education from the University of Quebec.

When Aili moved to Ottawa, she worked in the arts as the Art Director for CJOH-TV, the director of “Aili Studios” (which specialized in graphic design, illustration, and courtroom sketches) and as an instructor at the Ottawa School of Art where she taught for ten years. Her last position before dedicating her life full-time to painting was as the Creative Director of Corel Corporation.

In her studio overlooking a beautiful lake in the Rideau Valley, Aili creates landscapes and abstracts in acrylics and pastels. Her paintings express the numinous bond between the artist, the land, and spirit. She looks for the abstract within the real.

Over the years Aili has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows, and has won many top awards for both her acrylics and pastels. One of her paintings is featured in a book published by the International Artist magazine, and last year she won two prizes in the “Pastel Journal” for her work in the abstract category. Recently she was awarded the title “Master Pastellist” by the Pastel Artists Canada, and became a signature member of that organization as well as the Pastel Society of Canada.

Aili’s interest in art, philosophy, and religion has led to travels throughout the world. She has spent time exploring India, Nepal, Tibet, South East Asia, Australia, Central and South America, Mexico, and Europe. Her art, however, usually portrays the patterns and rhythms of the Canadian landscape.

Artist's Statement:

My reverence for the land, and its natural beauty, has inspired me to paint the rhythms of the Canadian landscape. In my paintings I portray not only 'what is', but also explore the syncretic patterns that emerge from cast-off shadows and reflections, which adds an underlying abstract quality to my imagery. The fleeting nature of shadows and reflections, combined with what we take to be solidly real, create patterns and imagery that remind us, in a subtle way, of the impermanent and translucent qualities of life. When I paint I want to portray the fragility and transience of nature by focusing on shifting perceptions of reality. I look for the abstract within the real.

Patterns in Nature are everywhere, and I find that I have become interested in painting these patterns as particles of contrasting or complementary colour laid side by side. These bits of colour can be expressed as dots or dashes—either combined into solid-looking areas or left standing alone to give a feeling of airy impermanence. The impressionists and the post-impressionists expressed themselves with this technique, and I have gained insights from their work. I have also been influenced by Australian aboriginal dot art. The land, to the aboriginal, is imbued with a numinous power that denotes the spiritual vitality of the earth. I, too, believe that there is a profound personal bond between the artist, the land, and spirit. That is why I choose to paint the natural world that surrounds me.

Nature is the creative principle and each individual human is the beholder of this creation - the witness. Through practicing art, I become an active participant in the creative process of the universe. The practice of art, for me, is to witness and then record an expression that gives evidence of place and time. I take great pleasure in constructing an object as a convincing representational illusion, while simultaneously generating the abstraction that colour, dot and pattern can bring. I can only hope that my art is a vehicle for us all to appreciate our own personally-observed universe.