Aly Louis / Will You Keep The Porchlight On?

Aly Louis is an artist, designer, and writer based in Northern Virginia. With a background in Graphic Design and a BFA from the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, her practice has always been rooted in emotional release and an urge to test boundaries.

Her work often reflects her unarticulated thoughts, exploring and expanding them on the canvas in ways that offer and embody emotional release. The paintings reflect the minute moments they were born in, becoming extensions of her thoughts, dreams, and inner realities. In her practice, painting is both a process and a reflection — a way of working through emotion and lived experience. Her work is often guided by written language — snippets of phrases, observations, and half-formed thoughts that surface while painting and find their way into the work. The finished paintings become a record of those thoughts and moments, and of whatever she was trying to make sense of at the time.

Aly Louis’ HOMEAWAY Series articulates the complicated feelings that arise as we grow up, grow older, and move away from where we came from and who we once were. It acknowledges the lost relationships, lost identities, and wistfulness that come with change, alongside the new connections, new selves, and excitement of a new world opening up.

“Ultimately, the collection reflects on the push and pull of building a life of our own while still feeling tied to the people, places, and versions of ourselves that came before. It also comes from the realization that while we were busy leaving home and changing ourselves, we never really thought about home changing without us. Can we be completely at home in the lives we’ve made and still long for the homes we left behind?” — Aly Louis