"As it Was" Painting

Leah Nadeau is a visual artist working primarily in acrylic and oil pastel. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she is currently based in the Portland, Oregon area. Storytelling is the foundation of her work. Film, music, and synesthesia shape a visceral response, compelling her to translate emotion onto the canvas. Her practice is rooted in perception, beginning with how she experiences sound, color, and emotion before they become words.
Leah shares her work and story through a widely engaged social media platform that functions as an extension of her practice rather than a simple archive. Diagnosed with ADHD and OCD at a young age, she has lived with neurodivergence her entire life. Rather than viewing it as a limitation, she draws strength from the ways it shapes her perception, creativity, and connection with others. Vulnerability and resilience are not themes she performs; they are values that inform how she shows up—both in her work and in the world.Deeply inspired by music and synesthesia, Leah often enters a state of flow when emotionally moved by sound. Her background in film theory informs a narrative approach to composition, while recurring motifs in her work, bridges as symbols of connection, and the rigid geometry of urban architecture, reflect her ongoing fascination with structure and relationship. Through vivid, emotion-rich compositions, her work invites viewers to feel fully alive and deeply seen, echoing the emotional connection she experiences through film and music.
Leah is a featured artist in a permanent residency at the Henry Ford Health Cancer Pavilion in Detroit, where her work is experienced daily by patients, families, and medical staff. Installed within a space dedicated to care, healing, and reflection, her work functions as a source of connection during some of life’s most vulnerable moments.Most recently, she exhibited her work at the Palm Springs Modernism Show during Modernism Week in Palm Springs, California (2026), where 11 of her paintings found new collectors.