Leila S Boakes
At an early age, due to bad hearing and a rich imagination, Leila escaped into worlds where waterstains became fairy castles and eyes in wood panels became faces. Patterns seemed like coded languages and quickly transferred onto paper with whatever medium was at hand. By the age of nine Leila knew she wanted to be an artist and created art continuously.
Studying fine art printmaking at Brighton Art College UK, experimenting in relief and transfer printing and falling in love with monotype. She soon realised that she was a very painterly printmaker and pursued one-off prints as opposed to editions. After completing art college she rediscovered the joy and discipline of working from real life, honing her drawing and observational skills through life drawing and still-lives. In 1999 she emigrated to Australia, becoming an Australian citizen in 2015. She continued to work primarily from reality and to focus solely on acrylic painting. The imagination and a certain level of surrealism began to infiltrate her works, until she finally accepted that the two worlds could live together and even complement each other, hence Inner Life Outer World. Just as the subconscious is always there with the conscious, the dreams of night, effecting the thoughts of the day, Leila embraced the broad spectrum that her creativity roamed. Inspired by the colour of Cezanne, the imagination of Kahlo and the mythic of Blake, Leila S Boakes' work evolves continuously.
Studying fine art printmaking at Brighton Art College UK, experimenting in relief and transfer printing and falling in love with monotype. She soon realised that she was a very painterly printmaker and pursued one-off prints as opposed to editions. After completing art college she rediscovered the joy and discipline of working from real life, honing her drawing and observational skills through life drawing and still-lives. In 1999 she emigrated to Australia, becoming an Australian citizen in 2015. She continued to work primarily from reality and to focus solely on acrylic painting. The imagination and a certain level of surrealism began to infiltrate her works, until she finally accepted that the two worlds could live together and even complement each other, hence Inner Life Outer World. Just as the subconscious is always there with the conscious, the dreams of night, effecting the thoughts of the day, Leila embraced the broad spectrum that her creativity roamed. Inspired by the colour of Cezanne, the imagination of Kahlo and the mythic of Blake, Leila S Boakes' work evolves continuously.
