Hi, I’m Leila Elguennich!

(Pronounced: Lay-La El-Geh-Nish)

I am a painter and illustrator based in Central Florida. I work in oil paint, watercolor, nihonga (Japanese painting), as well as digital illustration. I’ve studied visual art and earned my BA from the University of Florida and am currently an MFA candidate at the University of South Florida. My paintings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally. I also work as a freelance artist, my illustrations often highlighting women and people of color.

Informed by my personal experiences, as well as my Japanese-Moroccan background, I create paintings around themes of biracial and multicultural identity; disconnect, joy, and longing. I integrate visual languages of my heritage’s different cultures such as pattern, fashion, nature, as well as the human figure to convey these self-investigations. My works goal is to discuss these experiences with people of an existing cultural or racial majority, as well as compare with and relate to viewers who also have similar experiences with multicultural identity.