PAINTER
Tell us about your background
Art entered my life at a very young age… in kindergarten. I was a very intense child – and not only did my mother take me to a doctor to ask “why doesn’t my baby smile?” but when I was in kindergarten, the kindergarten teacher met with my mom one day, and asked her “what do you notice in these drawings?” and explained to my mother how full of details my drawings were, how I had rendered eyelashes, and fingernails for example, and not the customary stick-figures that most children draw. She told my mother that I would be an artist… and encouraged her to steer me in this direction. I started writing poetry and was interested in art as a teen, and was accepted to the School of Visual Arts in NY at the age of 18, but at that time, I wanted to leave my home and so I traveled abroad – to Israel – where I had also lived as a child for 2 1/2 years. There, ironically, I was rejected from a prominent art school – at 18-19. I later (also ironically), ended up going to both schools, the one that rejected me (where I started as a one year foreign student, then Paris, (some artists’ dream), and then later back to the School of Visual Arts in NY at a bit of an older age – late twenties…
If you feel comfortable, tell us about the struggles you’ve had either as an artist, or in the process of creating your work.
The struggles are mostly with recognition as a woman artist. It was very hard… especially if one is not socially aggressive.
Do you have a particular story that you would like to share?
I had a solo exhibition with Annina Nosei – the height of my “art career.” She was a great supporter of my work and explain my interpretation on how I see and understand my art.
To learn more, please visit Leemour Pelli’s ARTDEX Profile.
