Asha Roland

ASHA ROLAND

(she/her)

Asha Rowland is a multidisciplinary artist and self-taught visual artist currently based in Mni Sota Makoce. Her work explores the intersections of identity through mythology, the bridging of cultural aesthetics, and philosophies mainly centered around her South Asian/Punjabi and Afro-Caribbean heritage. Her work often incorporates floral and botanic aesthetics, fabric curation and cryptic symbolism. Asha’s familial background with activism and historical socio-political research as a practice informs and is incorporated into her artistry. Her work aims to be a form of liberation, contains decolonial practices, and intention to provide harmony and ease or disruption and awareness. Dichotomies and the questioning of dyadic thought patterns is often depicted in Asha’s work. As a professional Bharatanatyam, Raqs Sharqi, and experimentalist dancer, Asha is interested in the convergence of visual art and movement, drawing from storytelling structures to bridge the two into world-building creations centered on transformation, reflections of the world, power dynamics, and futurism.

Recently, Asha premiered her latest project, The Alchemist’s Soul, in the form of an evening-length dance theater production that features visual art animation integrated with al-kimiya and rasa shastra, shared mythologies across cultures, light and shadow play, and experimental choreography.

More information on www.asharowland.com.

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