BIO

B. 1980

My name is Leigh Nelson, and I am a digital artist from Toronto, Canada. 

I create digital artwork that begins with my photography—fragments of the world as I see it, shaped by my experiences, dreams, and the music moving through me in the moment. I’m drawn to the angles of buildings, the quiet rhythm of cities, and the unnoticed poetry of tunnels. These spaces often appear in my work as metaphors for movement, introspection, and transformation. I work intuitively layering, distorting, composing until something clicks in my gut and I know it’s complete.

I always include people, usually women, always real.  My figures are anonymous but intentional, inviting viewers to bring their own story into the piece. I don’t believe in telling people what to feel. My work isn’t about giving answers—it’s about holding space for ambiguity, emotion, and becoming. I’m fascinated by the way we move through life unseen, our stories unwritten. 

In October 2024, I travelled to Morocco and returned with a deeper, more visceral gratitude for the rights I have as a woman in Canada. I was furious about what I saw—the rules around how women must dress, move, eat, and even pray. That trip deepened the feminist current in my work. Although it’s not overt, my art has become a kind of quiet resistance —a celebration of autonomy, of voice, and of freedom to be seen.

My style is layered but restrained. I work with a limited colour palette because I believe in saying more with less. My pieces are portals—for reflection, projection, or even rebirth. Some see tunnels as dream symbols. Others feel them as birth canals. To me, they are thresholds: a space between who we were and who we’re becoming. 

I create for those who value self-trust, subtlety, and soul. For those who are done being quiet, but don’t need to be loud, for those who know that freedom, like art, is something sacred. 

e. leighnelsonart@gmail.com