Dematerial Painting

Lia Galletti is a Cuban-American abstract expressionist whose work spans over seven decades of bold exploration and intuitive gesture. Born in Havana in 1943, Galletti’s artistic journey began with early studies in printmaking at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Over the years, her practice has evolved into a powerful visual language driven by emotion, movement, and the raw energy of color. Working primarily in large-format acrylic paintings and works on paper, Galletti creates immersive compositions that reflect her deep commitment to process and improvisation. Her dynamic brushwork, spontaneous mark-making, and rhythmic layering are rooted in the traditions of abstract expressionism but remain uniquely her own. Galletti’s work has been exhibited widely in the United States and abroad, including solo shows in Miami, Washington D.C., and Boston, as well as international exhibitions in Tokyo and South Korea. Her paintings are held in private and public collections, including the Boston Printmakers, the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington D.C., and the Bacardi Collection. In 2007, one of her large-scale paintings was sold at Sotheby’s New York. Now based in Miami, Galletti continues to work prolifically in her studio, creating paintings that capture moments of clarity, tension, and release. Her work is deeply intuitive—an expressive translation of emotion into color, gesture, and form. I paint to capture the unspoken. My work is guided by the physical act of painting—by the freedom of movement, and by the interplay between intention and accident. If there are limitations, I embrace them as part of the process. My work is rooted in abstraction. While my early paintings, drawings, and printmaking explored ideas through representational forms, my current practice embraces the expressive freedom of the abstract. Each painting captures a burst of emotion—translated into gesture, color, and movement. Brushstrokes become physical responses, breaking free from constraints. When limitations arise, I welcome them into my process, allowing them to shape the work rather than restrict it. I primarily work on large-format canvases, where scale allows for a full expression of energy and gesture. Between these pieces, I create series on paper—more intimate explorations that echo and expand upon the themes and techniques of my larger works.