LESLIE BRAGINSKY

ARTIST BIO

Leslie Braginsky was born in Bogota, Colombia and adopted by a Jewish family in Miami, Florida. After her Colombian mother and Cuban father divorced, Leslie returned to Colombia with her sister to be raised by her mother in her grandmother’s home in Cali until she graduated from Bellas Artes with a degree in Graphics Design.

Leslie is an artist of many interests and skills. She was a member of the Society of Children’s Books and was a freelance illustrator for five years. She also worked for the Latin TV channel Telemundo in the props department. While selling paintings during college, her work was purchased by a casino and the singer Sergio Vargas.

Today, Leslie lives in Miami, Florida with the love of her life and their two adorable young daughters. She does art with them daily as well as doing her own work at night when they are asleep.

ARTIST STATEMENT

A mixture of textures, time, news, past, present, future, sensuality, movement, color, feminine, contrast, chosen ignorance and life brought on to a canvas made of watercolor paper, newspaper and gesso.

Tying all of the above together to create a beautiful but tragic opera that stains the mixture of papers and textures I created as a canvas. Dated by the newspapers these paintings for me are historic. Well, we are living in historic times, times that show who we really are. Exposing how we live in multiple realities at the same time, colorful moments that define our days until the news shows us others reality making us question our momentary happiness. We are creatures of the moment and should cherish them as the most valuable of things. We must live in the moment because it is all we have and it is what defines our fast coming future.


"Ever since I have memory I have been in love with painting and drawing. A pencil and paper are the best way to express myself. I live, breathe and dream art, I practice art with my daughters and alone on a daily basis.

The women in my art have exaggerated curves and are portrayed in very secure poses. I think of the paper or canvas as a mirror where a woman is looking into to seduce herself. I believe in falling in love with yourself first before you confront the world. Thinking back in my life I believe the exaggeration of the curves in my women are the way to remind myself that we as women are made out of curves. That is what differentiates us from a male body. I got my first period when I was 8 years old. My mind wasn’t ready and my environment at school wasn’t either. I was a little girl whose hips got wider and my breast grew fast at just 8 years old. I was ashamed and didn’t understand. I was the tallest girl of all the students in my classroom. I didn’t like being different and I didn’t want to accept it. This is a big reason for how I portray my women, to remind myself that our curves are a sign of beauty and femininity.

My work changes depending on what surrounds my life, the music I hear, the things I see and moments I live. I am always very inspired by fashion and colors. Many times I get inspired by my followers, looking through their accounts and painting inspired by one of their pictures and later surprising them with the painting."

Website: www.lesliebraginsky.com
IG: @leslie.braginsky