Birch Bark Painting

GINA LEON was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and raised in Canada. She is a Vancouver based actress, visual artist and muralist, currently based in Los Angeles, California. She spent time as a studio and research assistant to one of America’s leading muralists and visual artists, Dr. Judith F. Baca. Her early inspiration was drawn from her grandfather - abstract painter, sculptor, and architect, Monty Sack. Her mother, a goldsmith and potter, shaped Gina’s interest in ornamental and geometric design, decorative motifs and weathered textures. Inspired by landscapes, weathered surfaces, her painting is a process of layering elements in which abstract and more literal landscapes and figures are conceived. Her PAINTING and MURAL work for local businesses is varied: from abstract and impressionist landscapes, images inspired by the masters, to figurative work, city scapes and snippets of historical Vancouver. Gina studied Theatre and Art History at the University of Toronto, Visual Art at the College of Art and Design in Sydney, Australia, and Acting at the New School for Drama in NYC. Her paintings and murals have been showcased in Vancouver, New York City (The William Bennett Gallery and The Rockefeller Center), and more recently Los Angeles.