Aleksandra Ishilla – ‘Wet Matter’

30/07/26 to 12/08/26

I find the erotic such a kernel within myself. When released from its intense and constrained pellet, it flows through and colours my life with a kind of energy that heightens and sensitises and strengthens all my experience’

Audre Lorde, Uses of the Erotic: the Erotic as Power (1978)

Aleksandra Ishilla’s solo exhibition at the Salon brings together works from the past two years, in which they explore sexuality and identity through haptic visuality and the erotic qualities of painting. The works invite the viewer to experience a tactile and physical connection to the paintings, while remaining distanced and out of reach due to their representative quality. Aleksandra’s application of thick, textured paint mixed with various materials, such as pubic hair and glass is combined with their interest in Old Masters painting, where drama, representation and narrative play important roles.

Aleksandra Ishilla is a Polish, AFAB, non-binary artist, born in Warsaw, Poland, currently based in Margate. They moved to the UK in 2016 and finished BA (Hons) Fine Art Mixed Media at the University of Westminster in 2021. They are currently part of TURPS Margate and their recent exhibitions were with Hypha Studios, in London, 2025 and Off Season, in Margate, 2026. Ishilla’s work predominantly explores oil painting and its relationship with identity and sexuality. Through figuration and abstraction, they depict the fluid character of the human body and personality, as well as the emotional and sensitive moments of ecstasy, dreams and memories.

Private View

6pm Fri 31st July 2026