Bleach & Tonic (2021) Painting by Leni Whitford

My transformation from a former nurse artist in my spare time to a full-time painter was born from a need to escape, a search for meaning, and the expression of my passion for the visual arts.

During the first lockdown, I created a collection of "Portraits of Caregivers". This series of seven works is intended to be realistic, colorful and aesthetic in order to attract the public's eye and

encourage reflection. My collection of "Portraits of Caregivers" is available to hospitals that wish to do so in the form of enlargements, in order to show the

recognition of their staff through an exhibition. Four of these portraits are

part of the UNESCO "Creative Resilience" exhibition (Paris November 2021, Universal Exhibition Dubai February 2022...)

Since then, I have been developing a figurative and committed style driven by the expression of faces and gazes. I create decorative and pleasant images to look at, in order to express a message

that is darker or even brutal. This form of expression does not contain judgment, does not provide a solution but provokes reflection leading to a free interpretation for everyone. This is the

case in my latest collection of paintings, a series of four "Portraits of Marianne" in

commemoration of terrorist attacks that have struck France since 2015. I adapt my settings and the light to stage my subject in such a way as to extract its brilliance and emotion.

Léni

• Nationality: FRANCE
• Date of birth : 1980
• Artistic domains: Works by professional artists,
• Groups: Professional Artist Contemporary French Artists