Mixed media artist, Amina Bey captures the beauty of black ethnicity and diversity through her art. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing her and gathered some insight into their inspirations, and messages in her art. Without further ado, let’s dive into the story of Amina Bey!
~ART STYLE OF AMINA BEY~
Amina Bey is an artist based in the United States, however she was raised in the Dominican Republic (country in the Carribeans). Amina Bey shares her art on Instagram, her works are available for purchase on Galería Éxodo, and she’s also available for commissions! You can find her short story comic, Tears of Joy, on Webtoon! Using a wide variety of mediums like acrylics, watercolour, sculpturing or digital art and animations, Amina Bey creates art to express diversity of culture and blends the two worlds of fiction and reality through art.
Her creativity regarding the usage of mediums in her art is absolutely astounding! For example, she uses pieces of African head scarfs, flower tape stickers, and even jewellery! Amina Bey’s diverse art provides a little something that caters to everyone’s taste. (The cat art collection gets a ten star from me)
~#BLACKGIRLMAGIC~
Growing up as a dark skinned girl, Amina Bey unfortunately faced a lot of colourism. This issue is still prevalent in today’s society, and you can read more about it here. By creating art that shows the beauty of diversity, Amina combats these unjust discriminatory practices and encourages everyone to embrace the beauty of their own culture. #Blackgirlmagic is one of the tags that Amina includes on her posts to spread her message!
“it’s so important to show the beauty of black peoples but also of all ethnicities because we are all beautiful”
-Amina Bey
~INSPIRATIONS~
The inspirations for Amina Bey are very diverse, they range from the mysterious world of fiction to the beauty of individuals in reality.
One of the most influential inspirations for Amina is a Dominican singer who goes by the name of: Amara La Negra, famously known for her Afro and dark skin. Growing up, Amina noticed that people with Afro-curly hair had the tendency to straighten them, however, after Amara La Negra made her influence, communities began to embrace their Afro hair. This made an impression on Amina, it made her feel good about her identity and herself.
~TEARS OF JOY~
As previously mentioned, Amina Bey is also the creator of Tears of Joy. Although she is fairly new at the concept of comics, the beginning of this webtoon shows a promising future for her tale. Amina states that this story was inspired by the effects of having an introverted personality and how it can create a “mental prison” that makes it hard to step out into the real world.
“One day, i hope i can tell a story, through the art of animation, that i can inspire people the same way so many of my favorite artist, shows and films that I’ve seen over the years, that inspired me.”
-Amina Bey
A big thank you to Amina Bey for accepting to do this interview with me. Her art has bought an important message to me, and I hope it will make a lasting impression for you readers.
Feature Image: “Medusa”
Amina Bey’s full interview answers (PDF)
