AJA Louden

Planting Guide for Again

2025

Edmonton

AJA Louden is a Jamaican-Canadian artist living and working in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton, AB, Canada). Through rigorous mark making, constructions, and installations, Louden builds stories and worlds rooted in both galleries and public spaces, informed by his experience of growing up Black on the Prairies. His work explores the cyclical nature of power, drawing inspiration from science fiction and historical painting.

Since expanding into textiles in 2022, his practice has considered the roles of craft within Black communities and the history of craft in rural Alberta. AJA's work has been exhibited across Alberta, including his solo exhibition Prairie Star Deck at the Alberta Craft Council in Edmonton. Alongside his studio practice, he continues to engage in public art and mentorship. He was awarded the Edmonton Artists' Trust Fund in 2022 and was named one of Edify magazine's Top 40 Under 40 recipients in 2024.

Detail view of AJA’s vibrant textile artworks, layering portraiture, circuit-board patterns, floral imagery, and bold geometric motifs through richly textured tufting.

Working so closely with textiles has had a deep impact on AJA's creative process. Learning this slow, meticulous process was initially at odds with the more spontaneous and responsive approach he took when making paintings and murals. However, this slowness opened up new opportunities by drawing attention to each stitch and renewing his awareness of his body's relationship to the tools he uses.

He describes this meditative process as one that honours the role of craft in community, creating space for people to come together during times of celebration and grief. Black communities, in particular, have long used textiles for resistance, storytelling, and creative expression.

As one of Edmonton's most ambitious Tilt residencies to date, AJA brought an 8-foot-tall frame to our studio to support the creation of a large-scale textile work. Over ten weeks, he and his work became fixtures in the space, with a presence that allowed for continuous dialogue and reciprocity. We witnessed his creative process unfold in real time, just as he witnessed ours.

Three workshops formed an important part of the residency. hcma staff learned machine tufting and punch needle techniques while contributing to a collaborative textile piece that AJA later completed in his studio. Throughout the residency, conversations and common interests were shared, becoming meaningful sources of inspiration and connection.

Work-in-progress view of AJA’s textile artwork mounted on a large wooden tufting frame, surrounded by colourful yarn and studio materials.

Close-up of AJA hand-tufting neon yarn into the artwork, revealing the intricate textures, geometric patterns, and hand-drawn markings of the piece.

AJA presents his textile artwork during a studio review, inviting close examination of its richly layered colours, patterns, and tactile details.

Just in Time: Fastness, Slowness and Every Beat Within

Throughout the residency, AJA explored themes of time and process, including anachronism, non-linear time, and vigilance. He reflected on the contrast between architecture, which often unfolds over many years, and his own artistic practice, where projects can take around two months to complete. Inspired by the Prairies, he described creation as an act of temporal projection that draws from experiences rooted in a particular place, while recognizing that projections into the future are also informed by the past.

During his time at hcma, AJA intentionally chose to work with a punch needle in addition to his usual tufting gun. Slowing the process allowed him to become more immersed in the work and gave him greater control over the final piece. He also created a sister piece to test colour relationships before committing to the final work and carefully hand-sewed a repair after discovering a small hole in the backing fabric.