Bio

Leela Levering was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a high school graduate who is currently taking a gap year to work on building a name and platform for herself as an artist before attending Pratt Institute in the Fall of 2024. 

Leela’s education took a hybrid approach combining homeschooling, distance learning at Oak Meadow, and a semester at the fine art boarding high school, the Oxbow School, in Napa, California. Art has always permeated her life and education. Since middle school, Leela knew that art was her true passion and that she wanted to pursue it seriously. Leela is passionate about working to create adventurous, impactful, and narrative art. When she finds herself in an artistic comfort zone, she pushes herself to learn new techniques and try new mediums. As a result, Leela continues to learn and gain experience in various artistic disciplines.

To expand the scope of her artistic abilities, Leela has studied under Charlene Shikany at Ace's Alley Art Studio, Jena Jones-Dost at Arts Beacon, various teachers at SCAD Summer Seminars and the Oxbow School. 

During her gap year, Leela is completing an artist residency at Arts Beacon to explore and gain experience in self-directed studio work. She is also taking classes in photography, jewelry making, watercolor, and expressive painting to further expand her artistic capabilities. 

Leela's future goal is to establish and run an artist co-op to facilitate creativity and opportunities for all artists and creatives.

Accomplishments

Since 2020, Leela’s work has been included in numerous group art shows at Asa’s Alley Art Gallery. Her solo installation in response to the "Don't Say Gay" bill was also displayed at the gallery in the summer of 2022. Leela’s Oxbow final project, Today’s Specials, was displayed in the final show at the Oxbow School. Her piece, Briefly Shattered, was installed in the Teen Exhibition, Metamorphosis, at the High Museum of Art. And most recently, some of her ceramic work was a part of the group show, Casting Cups, at Echo Contemporary Art. In March 2024, Leela will conclude her residency with a solo show at Arts Beacon (details TBD).

Artist Statement

Art has always served as an escape for me, where I can express my innermost thoughts and feelings. It is an important way that I communicate my opinions, experiences, and beliefs – it serves as an expression of my purest, most vulnerable state. I can clearly and strongly speak through my art; my creative process becomes my words, my language. Through artistic expression, my voice becomes impactful, confident, and powerful. My art explores an array of topics ranging from social issues, such as gender equality and equity, queer liberation, and climate change, to introspective human experiences, such as personal insight, the good/bad binary, and subjects relating to meaning and purpose. My work intersects various disciplines, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and printmaking. Experimentation is something that plays a crucial role in my creative process. Exploring new techniques, mediums, and topics inspires me and allows my work to come to fruition in the most meaningful ways. My overall vision when creating work is to convey a strong, significant message through my art that impacts the viewer and encourages people to think, question, and spark conversations. I seek not only to make something visually appealing but to make pieces that contain a thought, feeling, or belief of mine and therefore contain an earnest message. My goal is for viewers to feel impacted and to reflect on my art as well as the ideas it inspires; I strive for my work to have a lasting effect on others. I have experienced art as a way that I can place my soul into physical materials and creations.