Aisha Imani Lee was born in a family full of musicians, singers  and artists, Aisha’s artistic abilities came naturally at a young age. Aisha spent her  early and most formative years in the vibrant, scenic, and culturally diverse Oakland,  CA. This cultivated her passion for visually stimulating objects, patterns, and images.  The revolutionary spirit of the town and her mother normalized celebrating black pride,  history, and culture, which also impacted her creative sensibilities. She attended the  California College of the Arts, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior  Design and began to embrace her love for painting with acrylics. Attending an art school  that focused on critical-thinking and social awareness solidified her desire to create art  and design that celebrates Blackness and benefits people that are often disregarded.  After graduating, she began focusing on her personal life and maintained her skills by  painting custom artwork. During recent years, Aisha has developed an artist identity  and business named Aisha Imani Sanaa, which means Life, Faith, Art, where she  highlights the beauty of black culture, resiliency, and the pursuit of new beginnings. 

Rise, 2020 

The lotus flower is an aquatic plant that grows under deep, muddy waters without  sunlight. Every night it reburies itself, then reblooms with the sunrise to reveal  unwithered and unstained petals. In this work of art, the lotus symbolizes the resilience  and resourcefulness of the formerly enslaved Blacks that migrated to Kansas, Nebraska  and Colorado to escape the violence they faced during the reconstruction period. The  garments adorned with Andinkra symbols celebrate the faith, self-determination,  wisdom, unity, bravery, and steadfastness they embodied while building a new  beginning in black townships, such as Nicodemus. The lifting of the sacred flower  compels us to resurrect and revere the spirit of those principles in order to defeat  contemporary muddy waters and attain liberation.