Freak Like Me Painting

My name is Autumn Leppla - I’m a mixed media portrait artist currently living in Los Angeles California. I was raised in North Texas learning a mix of southern charm and my cultural native roots. My grandmother used to bring me with her to Winnebago tribe powwows and ceramonies. She wanted me to understand the values and history that was passed on to me through her blood. My Indian name is Ahoo Cho, it is a peyote name given to me by my grandma. In English it means “Blue Wing”. Native American culture taught me to lean into my spirituality early by tuning into the earth and universe. Spirituality is a heavy influence in my art as well as current and past socio-political events. I use portraiture and symbolism to get across the emotions and ideas I stand behind. I find myself fascinated with the role of the gaze and expression. My favorite part of my process is painting the eyes. They tell so much about a person as the eyes are the windows to the soul. I work with prisma color, oil paint, acrylic, as well as digital augmented reality. I spent my youth studying my craft taking 12 years of art classes, camps and workshops but recently have just been self taught. I’m not one who is big on words so art allows me to express myself without having to put everything into words. Art is a therapy, It is a meditative state for me where I can turn pain into a work or art, and I think that’s really beautiful. Life is made up out of billions of perspectives. You and I will never view the world exactly the same. Though I may have an original meaning behind my art, it’s always so fascinating to me when someone has a different perspective. One of my favorite quotes is “Once there were two brothers who were raised by an alcoholic father. One grew up to be an alcoholic and when asked what happened he said "I watched my father." The other grew up and never drank in his life. When he was asked what happened he said "I watched my father." Two boys, same dad, two different perspectives.” -Kirk Franklin. I try to stay grateful for everything I have in life because I know that gratitude brings your whole mind into closer harmony with the creative energies of the universe .