Other: The Artistic Journey of Aida Wilde

Other Pt.1 is an exhibition from Aida Wilde. In a space at the top of Brick Lane, it was a reflection of her own feelings and experiences. Putting them into the world by creating bold text based black and white banners. All hung in a space with inky black walls, Aida describes them as Talismans. As works they demanded attention. Loud and commanding they were immediate, raw and real.

Other Pt. 1

The show was a culmination of Aida Wilde’s 20-year artistic journey. A reflection on her experiences, traumas, and evolution as an artist. The title itself is a nod to Wilde’s lifelong feeling of being “the other”. It’s an identity she has grappled with since her childhood in Iran. “I’ve always felt like I was the other,” she explains. The sense of being an outsider. Of not fully belonging to any one cultural or ethnic group has been an undercurrent throughout her work.

“I would tick the ‘other’ box on forms because I’m not white, but I’m also not really white because I’m Middle Eastern. It’s a label that has followed me throughout my life.”

Subconscious Feeling

That feeling might have been subconscious for much of Aida’s life. It was only a chance encounter with a hospital administrator that solidified the concept for the exhibition. “I was at the hospital, and the administrator was reading a list of nationalities, and I wasn’t there,” Wilde recalls. “She looked at me and said, ‘You really aren’t here, are you?’ In that moment, I knew this was the show – ‘Other'”

Early Beginnings in Iran

Born in Iran during a time of political upheaval. Wilde’s childhood was shaped by the realities of the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War. “Growing up in that environment, you learn to question authority and push boundaries from a very young age,” she reflects. “Even as a child, I would rebel against things. Like having to cover my hair or conform to certain societal norms”.

Adapting to a New Home

At the age of 10, Aida and her family made the decision to leave Iran and start a new life in the United Kingdom. Wilde grappled with the challenges of adapting to a new culture and language. Heading straight in to the British schooling system she would go on to discover printmaking as part of a GCSE art class.

The Power of Printmaking

“It was so natural,” Wilde reflects. “I’d look at something and instantly see it in layers, and the process just clicked with me.” Her studies in printmaking would continue at Barnet College. First studying for her art foundation and then going on to study at the London College of Printing. A place that now is better known as the London College of Communication, part of the University of Arts.

Embracing the Brick Lane Community

Around 2006 Wilde’s journey took a pivotal turn when she opened a shop on Bacon Street in Brick Lane. Called ‘Brag Boutique’ it was here that Aida became known for her skills in fashion and printed leisurewear. But it was also where she forged valuable connections with the burgeoning street art scene. Meeting and collaborating with artists like Sweet Toof and Cyclops, venturing into the world of paste-ups and street activism.

“It was so natural,” Wilde recalls. “I just started going out with different people, and we’d make a night of it. There was a real sense of community and nurturing back then.”

The Power of Paste-Ups

Her first foray into paste-ups was a transformative experience. For the first time moving her work from the shop and on clothing to the street. It was a graffiti writer, Zoot, who made the connection. Believing that this is where many of Aida’s messages needed to be seen. “There was a lot of space” she recalls. “You could go anywhere”. Back then many of the buildings and streets were empty. It was 2007 and Redchurch Street and Brick Lane hadn’t seen anything like the development it has now.

I was going high. I was going low. But my work lent itself. That’s how it started, and that just continued.

Navigating Challenges and Transitions

Wilde’s artistic trajectory was not without its challenges. The 2008 financial crisis dealt a significant blow to her business. It forced a difficult decision to re-locate to the more affordable Hackney Wick. It was a transition, which though painful, would ultimately shape the evolution of her work. “It was so sour, I was so hurt,” Wilde remembers. “But in a way, that experience became a catalyst for my work. A way of processing the trauma and anger I was feeling”.

Embracing Fine Art Printmaking

It was during this period that Wilde’s practice began to shift. Delving deeper into the realms of fine art printmaking. A chance encounter with a gallerist from the Nelly Duff Gallery sparked a new chapter. Encouraging Wilde to explore the potential of her designs on paper. It marked the beginning of her foray into the world of limited-edition prints. A discipline she would go on to master with her signature use of vibrant neon palettes and bold, conceptual imagery.

Unpacking Trauma and Anger

As Wilde’s artistic practice matured, so too did her understanding of the deeper currents that flowed through her work. A pivotal moment would come in 2019. Her involvement in a project called ‘Choose Love‘ helping to unpack some of the trauma and anger she’d been feeling. All simmering under the surface for years. “It was like a light bulb moment” Aida said.

I realized that all this time, my work had been a way of processing my own experiences. Of turning pain into power.

Choose Love

That formative experience centered around the plight of refugees. Taking banknotes from Eritea, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan and Syria. She painted the notes with the words ‘Choose Love‘ with ink made of pulped bank notes. It was a poignant project. A refugee herself. Aida had fled Iran with her mother and sisters to escape the conflict with Iraq in the 80’s. Such was the raw impact of that time, even handling the Iraqi Dinars would prove difficult.

“The whole process of working with these notes was so instinctive. At first, I couldn’t even touch them. But then, I started working. It felt very personal.”

Cash is King II

Held at the Saatchi Gallery it was part of a wider exhibition called ‘Cash is King 2‘. Curated by Susan Hanson and Olly Walker, it featured original artworks on banknotes from across the World. All were then reproduced in a book of the same name. Aida’s work formed part of the exhibition with sales ultimately going to Choose Love to support their work with refugees.

Pain into Power

It was much of this newfound self-awareness that has found its way into Wilde’s current exhibition, “Other Pt.1”. That sense of turning ‘Pain into Power’ is a phrase that keeps coming up. Not only is it written on one of the Talismans in Aida’s exhibition. It seems to be a driving force in how Aida has translated her own energy. Looking around it’s not the only one. Each banner screams out with raw emotion. Deep in personal meaning but also acting as a mirror for those visiting.

If you only knew…

One prominent banner says ‘If you only knew how exhausting it is to be powered by rage’. I think it tells me a lot about Aida as a person and as an artist. This sense of rage. Of anger, that has built up for years. Joined with this need to release it in the form of art. So that visitors can experience and sense for themselves but also to imbue their own personal experience onto it.

“It’s a very quiet, positive range, rage really”

Rage

It’s a rage that has been fueled by both personal experience but also societal malaise. Anger at a society that perhaps didn’t better use it’s gifts. But also anger at a society that is more than willing to discard. The experience of the financial crisis still stings with the loss of a cherished home and business. When around her the banks and big business were supported to survive. Such luxury was never afforded to Aida’s small shop selling clothes on Bacon Street. It hurts still.

Other

‘Other’ is a culmination. From early forays into fashion and street art in Brick Lane, to her mastery of fine art printmaking. It feels important. Like the words in the exhibition just needed to be said. Nothing was for sale, just revealed. An opportunity to enter into a black and white room with bold white words written on jet black fabric. To experience for yourself the journey of resilience, of community and indeed of that quiet rage.

‘Other Pt 1’ was an exhibition by Aida Wilde at 123 Bethnal Green Road in London. It ran from 6th to 9th March 2025 over the weekend of International Women’s Day. Aida was interviewed at the end of the exhibition as the gallery had closed. You can see Aida’s website here and her instagram here.

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