ABOUT ME
Artist Statement
There is no need for the natural world to seemingly lose its magic as we grow older - the only difference should be that now, we have the power to do something to save it. I am a practicing artist who specializes in acrylic painting, particularly of wildlife and natural landscapes on large canvases. I have always been fascinated with the bright, lively colors of nature, and I seek to capture that same sense of life in each of my paintings by enhancing the natural colors in my work to create bold, colorful pieces that draw people in. Particularly, I have a focus on endangered or underrepresented animals, and I enjoy painting them to draw attention to the beauty and value they hold. My goal is to submerge my viewers into a natural world that many have forgotten in their day-to-day life, and to remind everyone that we still share this planet with so much more than we regularly encounter. The large scale of the canvas sheets I work on aid me in creating immersive pieces, and I typically work on canvas larger than four feet in length and height for this reason. My work shows that countless lives exist outside of our own, and all of them deserve to be viewed with respect and wonder.
Artist Bio
As a Belizean-American artist, Ellora "Leo" Lizarraga is fascinated by bright colors and the natural world. His exposure to multiple cultures growing up has helped him gain different perspectives on art and the world around him. Leo has been painting in various media since he was eight years old. He began acrylic painting in high school, focusing mostly on portraits of animals. Now, in college, he has been a part of the undergraduate art show run by the School of Art + Design at Ohio University for two years in a row. Leo is now in his senior year of college and preparing to receive his BFA in painting and drawing. He did a large eight by eight-foot painting at the end of junior year to test my thesis concept and skills, and with feedback and encouragement from his peers, he expanded it into the series that is now his thesis.