About Me and My Work
My name is Aya [EYE-UH] Doslu [DOE-SLOO] and I am a multidisciplinary artist with a BFA in Intermedia from Portland, Oregon.
Whether I am telling the stories of others through short documentary films or attempting to visualize my own feelings through illustration or photography; what links it all together is quite simply: people.
I am fascinated by people and their stories, and I believe that everyone's story, no matter how small, can share connection to someone else's. Most of the narrative work I create is about feeling misunderstood, alone, and yet ultimately how we are all connected as living beings. This is why people, animals, and creatures of all sorts are typically the focus in most of my art, rather than inanimate objects. Or when working with inanimate objects such as filming with puppets... I like to pretend that they are people. (Check out my puppetry in my short films Common Thread and Fabric of Reality.)
My curiosity and fascination for life and human nature is what ultimately compels me to create art. In an attempt to make sense of the world around me, I locate patterns and draw connections.
Why the Name "Absurd Aya"?
Thats a great question, and I'm glad you asked. I did not make my artist name "Absurd Aya" to say that all my art is absurd, or about the subject of absurdity. Rather, absurdness to me means a lack of objective meaning or truth. When I think about the big picture of life and its meaning.. it's absurd.
"The realization that life is absurd and cannot be an end, but only a beginning. This is a truth nearly all great minds have taken as their starting point. It is not this discovery that is interesting, but the consequences and rules of action drawn from it" - Albert Camus.
Being neurodivergent, my brain often favors categorizing things, and splits ideas into black and white answers. I find a lot of power and freedom in embracing this theory that "life is absurd"; and I can stop searching for the 'right' answers on how to live my life. Absurdity is my Autonomy.
Awards & Exhibitions
Fresh Film Northwest Heart Award, 2016
Gold Key Portland Metro Scholastic Art Awards, 2017
Best Use of Graphics in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences - Creative Activity and Research Day at University of San Francisco 2020
New Visionaries Exhibition at LightBox Photographic Gallery, 2023