Meet the Artist
Nayla Romanos Iliya
Nayla Romanos Iliya is a Lebanese architect and artist. Her numerous realizations in the field include projects of architecture, renovation and interior design in Lebanon. Leaving her home country near the end of the civil war, she moved to Paris, then lived in London, Hong Kong and Dubai. During this period, she was exposed to diverse cultures, pursued design and Feng Shui workshops, and, earlier on, developed a strong interest in art. She started sculpting in 2011, became immediately passionate about it, and has devoted herself fully to her art since. Influenced by her architectural practice, Romanos Iliya approaches her sculptures as such, replacing function with intuition. She works in a multi-disciplinary way, and is interested to do collaborations with organisations, as well as other artists or designers. Experimenting with different techniques and media, she is equally at ease working on radically different scales, from monumental public art to small size series, or even wearable art. Romanos Iliya’s formative years in a war-torn country, coupled with her cross-cultural experiences thereafter, are defining triggers in her work. While exploring her issues of identity and social concerns, she developed her own sense of aesthetics, intuitive and optimistic -no matter how critical the themes addressed are. Her sculptures can be found in private collections, as well as in public ones, such as the Gray Hotel in Beirut and the Four Seasons Hotel in Abu Dhabi. She currently lives and works in Beirut.
