Evelyn, Leya

Leya Evelyn was born in Washington, D.C., and educated at Brown and Yale Universities. She moved from New York City to Nova Scotia in the early 1980s.

Leya exhibits her work widely in Canada and the U.S., as well as across Europe. She has been the recipient of numerous grants from provincial and federal agencies, including a Canada Council Established Artist Grant in 2000. Leya became an elected member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art in 2011. She has taught both privately and at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax.

Artist Statement

This work is about colour: how it takes form, creates space, provokes emotion and challenges perception. The paintings evoke uncensored memories and states of mind, exploring possibilities, imaginings and openings. The process begins with photo-silk-screened images drawn from personal experience. Inspired by these images and the emotions they fuel, paint, collage, written words, form and texture are added and build up into a density that reveals a deeper, nonliteral, experience.