My name is Laila Mote and I’m an artist and architect born and raised in the Faroe Islands with roots from Kenya.

I hold a master’s degree in architecture from The Royal Academy in Copenhagen (2022) and since graduating, I’ve been working within the fields of visual arts, graphic and architectural design with clients in The Faroe Islands, Greenland, Sweden, Iceland and Denmark.

My visual art offers an insight into the experiences of growing up in a predominantly white society as a woman of colour in a Faroese context, discussing the issues of alienation and belonging in the country where I was born and raised. This is why I often visualize creatures. They're something I started drawing at a young age. This has been a way for me to express and cope with the complex emotions emerging from growing up as a minority in a small society like the Faroe Islands. I kinda' wandered around feeling like an alien creature kid waiting for my spaceship. My art was my spaceship and the creatures portrayed me.

As I love experimenting with different kinds of medias, the creatures never look the same, they keep evolving and transforming. 

Noticing similarities in my different professions, I weave these shared values and concerns into all aspects of my work. My goal is to challenge the dominant narrative and create a space where marginalized voices can be heard.