Born and raised in Dakar, Sénégal, Mayalen is a Basque-Senegalese mixed media artist, working mainly with oil and acrylic painting, photography and videography.

She studied at the Fine Arts of Biarritz (École Supérieure d’Art Pays-Basque) and Toulouse (Institut Supérieur de Design et d’Art), and specialised in cinematography, creating atmospheres through set designing, costume crafting and photography.

Through the years, she directed two short movies, worked on sets in Senegal and exhibited her “photographyXpainting” series “Mamiwata” and “The Divine Androgyne”, both legend interpretations, during Dak’art Biennale (2022-OFF).

Her main subjects of work revolve around the Ocean and femininity. Her collages series “Oceanic Bodies” displays what she calls “the Ocean’s Femininity”, where women and the ocean merge.