Imperfection
Imperfection
The Studio
About
Ayesha Jones (b. 1990) is an artist based in the West Midlands. She works predominantly with photography and film, and is interested in art as a catalyst for growth, healing, and social impact. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and she has received awards including Magnum Photos and The Photography Show’s 30 Under 30 International Award, Portrait of Britain (2022 and 2023), and Decade of Change.
Her solo exhibition Motherland was presented in a woodland as part of Coventry UK City of Culture 2021. Drawing on her own mixed heritage, the work explored the interconnected nature of identity, humanity, nature, and ancestry. In 2023, Jones created Leave A Light In My Room, a commission with Ikon Gallery and Birmingham Hospice exploring themes around ageing and end of life.
In 2023 Jones was also commissioned by Multistory and the Gaia Foundation for the national We Feed the UK campaign, a collaborative project with 10 other photographers, documenting regenerative farming communities across the country. The work launched at Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool in early 2024 and was exhibited in a Walsall allotment later that year, at the Royal Photographic Society in 2025 and Primary Gallery in 2026.
Her latest project, The Backbone, was developed through Arts Council England’s DYCP funding and published as a photobook in 2025. The work uses idiopathic scoliosis as a lens to explore the broader neglect and mystification of the female body in modern medicine interweaving personal narrative, documentary photography, and interviews. The Backbone was featured by the BBC and launched at Ikon Gallery in 2025. It was also shown at the Royal Photographic Society’s 166th International Exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in August 2025, with a forthcoming solo show at Street Level Photoworks in 2026 and New Art Gallery Walsall in 2027.
TESTIMONIALS
“The success of this body of work derives from the fact that this does not become about self-pitty or an attempt to evoke sympathy. Jones has put herself at the centre of a project that addresses a range of topics relating to imposed ideals, societal roles, personal relationships and autobiography” - Adam Murray, Art Licks
"It’s the stark contrast of images that really challenges accepted notions of female beauty and imposed ideals." Dazed Online
“Absorbed in a world so consumed with sheer vanity, there’s nothing more refreshing then the work of Ayesha Jones. With a creativity that breathes authenticity…. Ayesha uses her illness to inspire her creative journey- and deliver an art which is both visually and intellectually fulfilling. At the core of her work is the notion of beauty affecting female desire, sexuality and even perceptions of what it means to be a woman. Yet the depth of her art also extends to wider society” - Euphoria online
“As a woman and mother of two daughters I love Ayesha Jones for showing the world that beauty comes from within. Thank you to this young woman for leading a beautiful life on her own terms. That's exactly the kind of beauty the world needs more of”- Anonymous Comment, Daily Mail
"Your story has inspired me to become more than how people look at me. It feels so wonderful to have someone who is like me to prove the world wrong that beauty comes from within the heart and soul"- Anonymous Comment , Daily Mail