Leah Lavelle is a Portland, Oregon–based artist whose paintings, textiles, and installations explore feminine freedom, embodiment, and the pleasures of being alive. Her work is informed by a longstanding interest in movement, the natural world, and the relationship between imagination and lived experience.
Often centering the femme figure in moments of ease, her paintings celebrate resting, wandering, dreaming, and creating as expressions of personal freedom.
Working with fluid washes of color, layered textiles, and organic forms, Leah creates soft, atmospheric compositions that invite a slower, more expansive gaze. Her practice considers the power of pleasure, intuition, and play in a world that so often demands productivity and vigilance.
Through both intimate artworks and participatory experiences, she invites viewers to imagine more spacious, joyful ways of being.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026, still warm, Fine Art Fruit, Portland, OR
2019, Commissioned Solo Exhibition, Riveter Portland, Portland, OR
2016, Solo Exhibition, Dollop, Chicago, IL
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026, Nostalgia Potluck, Purple Door Gallery, Portland, OR (forthcoming)
2026, Cascada Hotel Gallery, Portland, OR
2025, 34 Group Show, Radius Art Studio, Portland, OR
2025, Holiday Market, One Grand Gallery, Portland, OR
2025, Strawberry Room, Sou’wester Lodge, Seaview, WA
2024, Resident Artists Exhibition, Berlin Art Institute, Berlin, Germany
RESIDENCIES
2025, Field of Hours, Make Fun Studios, Portland, OR
2025, Sou’wester Arts Residency, Seaview, WA
2024, Berlin Art Institute Residency Program, Berlin, Germany
2022–2023, The Canyons Alley Studio Residency, Portland, OR
SELECTED COMMISSIONS & INSTALLATIONS
2025, Strawberry Room, Collaborative Immersion, Sou’wester Lodge, Seaview, WA
2025, Commissioned Paintings, Lake of the Woods, IN
2024–Present, Installation Painting, Overflow Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2019, Empowerment Mural, Simpson Academy for Young Women, Chicago, IL
2019, Commissioned Paintings, Riveter Portland, Portland, OR
2015, Commissioned Mural, Whole Foods Market, Evanston, IL
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Riveter Portland Collection, Portland, OR
Overflow Berlin Collection, Berlin, Germany
Private Collections, United States and Germany