Kayla is a queer South African artist, currently residing in Glasgow and studying at the Glasgow School of Art. She explores ideas of womanhood, mortality, and connection through oil paintings of herself, the women in her family, and the bathroom as a space of both discomfort and refuge. Kayla hopes to draw attention to the importance of considering women in art and art history, as both artists and subjects. She conveys ideas of mortality as seen in the way the body ages. Women have a specific relationship with mortality, often one of attempting to delay it, and Kayla explores this relationship through her paintings of women in her family, including her late Grandma. These paintings tend to also be a celebration of a life lived, and the beauty found in the aged body. Both comfort and discomfort play equal parts in Howie’s work, such as the warmth of a subject coupled with the discomfort of an averted gaze.

See Kayla’s work as part of our annual spring exhibition Offerings, exploring the ways that hope and creativity can take root in hostile environments. Inspired by queer histories of creating against all odds, and by the ways communities nurture possibility and make offerings for the future, Offerings showcases works that bring warmth, colour, and a sense of renewal, that soften the spaces they inhabit, or that suggest endurance or growth: no matter how harsh the winter, the flowers will bloom again.

Hi Kayla! Can you tell us how your artistic journey started?
I have been drawing and painting since a very young age, whenever my parents needed to keep me occupied they would stick a pencil and paper in front of me and I would draw for hours. I have been lucky to have their continued support throughout this journey. I did both Art and Design as subjects in high school and then continued on to do my undergraduate degree in Fine Art, where I fell in love with oil painting specifically. I am now doing my masters at Glasgow School of Art. I have always loved and found an escape in the freedom and joy that comes with making art.

How did you arrive at the theme of your work?
The thematic components of my practice have changed gradually over time, I began with thinking about mortality, I would paint wounds and swathes of skin as a representation of the body showing us mortality. I then began to consider the fact that my works were all of women, being self-portraits at the time, and what this meant. Over time these ideas combined and created something new, a way to celebrate the women in my life while also considering the nature of aging and mortality. When it comes to the work, Grandma, I knew I wanted to create a piece that honoured her life and her joyousness in some way, but that also explored my own feelings regarding her passing. 

Which artists inspire you? Are there non-artistic influences such as literature or music that impact your work?
I’m very inspired by quite a few artists, although one artist always stands out for me, I find the work of Jenny Saville to be very influential. Her work is not stylistically similar to mine but there’s something about it that I find incredibly inspiring. Along a similar vein is the work of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, they are both artists who inspire me despite the differences in my style versus theirs. I am also influenced conceptually by James Elkins, specifically his books The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing and What Painting Is, as well as the writings of Julia Kristeva regarding abjection. 

How do you typically approach your creative process from initial inspiration to the completion of your artwork?
I hope that people viewing my work experience some kind of emotional reaction to it, whether that be sad or joyful. I want people to be able to relate to my works, to feel the feelings of love or sorrow that I put into them and relate that back to their own lives and experiences. I also aim to cause contrasting feelings of both comfort and discomfort. The ideal for my work is that it sparks interest and conversation.

Will your next project be a continuation of your current style or are you experimenting with something different? Can you share a glimpse of your next project?
The next few paintings I’m working on are continuations of the themes I have been covering so far, of womanhood and mortality. I have a painting of my mother that I have completed and am currently working on one of my sister. I am also wanting to explore bathroom scenes further and the connotations of that. I have painted a sink and a bathroom bin in this exploration. These pieces are looking into ideas of abjection and the analysis of oneself that goes on in a bathroom setting, particularly as a woman.

OFFERINGS runs at Six Foot Gallery until 21st April 2026. Connect with Kayla on Instagram.