Leota Brigida Harriman

The central tension in my art is between rounded organic forms, and the patterns and shapes of the digital noise that is a ubiquitous part of modern life. But it’s only “about” that when finished. What my art is really about is the act of making art. My work uses an art therapy technique called neurographic art, and so each drawing and painting is also an act of personal healing from childhood sexual trauma. I believe that this emotional essence is understood by the people who see the work, in the same way that blues music conveys deep pain through expressive beauty. I do art to make myself happy. The work feels healing as I do it, and also as people see it. The abstracted forms can evoke inner space, like cells or molecules. My work often looks like the organic world of slime molds, rocks or thirsty bamboo. Other times, these forms evoke the macro scale of outer space, or a multiverse. I frequently include sigils, which are words embedded in the work, and for me, a form of prayer. I also love to include all symbols of infinity, like circles and spirals, and the expression of sacred geometry in other forms. As an artist, I’ve dabbled in as many media as I had the means and opportunity to explore, including beadwork, costume design, pattern drawing of clothing, cooking, graphic design, font design—and dollhouse design and construction from cardboard, my current favorite side quest.

Leota Brigida Harriman is currently living out a dream she has held since she was a teenager in 1980: to live and work as an artist. In high school, Leota was convinced she would spend all of her days as an artist (perhaps in a garret somewhere), when about 40 years of life intervened. Those decades included raising four children, marriages and divorces, grandchildren, odd jobs, and a career in journalism and newspaper publishing. Life events brought her back to Las Vegas, New Mexico, in 2023, where she now lives with her mother, and thinks about art all day long. Her work has been shown in several New Mexico galleries, including La Galería @ The Shaffer in Mountainair, Ghostwolf Gallery in Old Town Albuquerque, El Zócalo Gallery, Kennedy Gallery and Gallery 140, all in Las Vegas, and Circa Gallery in Santa Rosa. Leota recently started work as Fine Art Instructor at Luna Community College in Las Vegas and serves on the board of the Las Vegas Arts Council.

2-D, 3-D, Drawing, Multi-Media, Painting (all materials), Writing