About Me

Hi, I’m Daliana Leon, and my journey with art has been anything but straightforward.

I was born in Cuba, where my childhood was full of warmth, love, and the closeness of a beautiful family. By our standards in my country, life was good, life was actually really good. Things changed when I moved to the United States to be with my parents. That’s when I began to truly understand what struggle looked like.

Art has always been part of me, even in the difficult times. As a kid, I’d spend hours painting and drawing, completely lost in my own little world. Then life would happen and I’d put it aside for years at a time, but somehow, I always found my way back to it.

I’ve never been the kind of person who fits neatly into one box. For years, I wrestled with expectations, especially with both of my parents being doctors about my life in general. I didn’t always know what I was “supposed” to do, or who I was “supposed” to be. But no matter what, art was always my way home.

To be honest, I’ve always been a little scared of art. Scared of creating. Scared of showing too much of myself. Scared of not being “good enough.” But I’ve learned that the things we fear the most are often exactly what we’re meant to do.

When I paint, I feel free to do my own thing, free to be myself. My art is a reflection of my journey, my stories, my emotions, and my way of making sense of the world, which I would always struggle making sense of it. And if one of my pieces speaks to you, then my work has done exactly what it was meant to do.