leylismr

Across all media, the Atlanta-based artist LeylisMR seeks to reshape reality, inviting viewers into psychological and poetic spaces where the familiar becomes fluid and open to reinterpretation.

Artist: Leylis Burnette, a Peruvian-born visual artist goes by the name LeylisMR. She established her artist name in Peru, where she earned her BA in art education with a concentration in visual arts from the Sérvulo Gutiérrez Art School.

In 2016, she moved to Atlanta, where she worked as a fine art instructor while continuing her art practice.

LeylisMR, who works from her window-filled home studio, is also the founder and director of Art Lingo Speak!, a bilingual art and language program for young children.

In the beginning: She began as a visual artist out of a deep need to express what words alone could not hold.

Growing up in the city of Ica, she was a shy and introspective person who often found that spoken language fell short when it came to communicating emotion, complexity and inner experience.

“Art became the space where I could speak freely,” said LeylisMR. “Without interruption, explanation, or limitation.

“As my practice evolved, so did my relationship with materials and processes. What began as an instinctive need for expression gradually became a disciplined and intentional artistic language.”

Art & materials: Primarily oil paintings, but also detailed sculptures, mixed-media works and intricate ink drawings ($350 to $3,500 and up).

She regularly incorporates India ink, acrylic inks, graphite, charcoal, paper, clay, and gypsum into her practice.

Themes: Inner landscapes, transformation, memory and perception.

“My work emerges from the tension and harmony between the internal and external worlds,” said LeylisMR.

Must-have tools:

Ink pens and quality brushes. “Drawing is foundational to my practice,” said LeylisMR. “And ink offers immediacy, precision, and expressive freedom.”
Her hands and fingers, especially when working with mixed media and relief materials.
Heavy-duty cutters and spatulas with varied angles, which allow her to carve, build and manipulate surfaces with precision.

Inspirations/influences:

Surrealism.
The emotional depth of Romanticism.
The symbolic language found in Symbolist art.

“I consider life itself – human behavior, emotion, vulnerability and imagination – my primary source of inspiration,” said LeylisMR.

Recent projects:

Developing a new body of work titled “Neon Roots,” an evolving series that explores identity, origin and inner landscapes through heightened color, contrast and surreal form.

“Through layered materials, expressive figures, and symbolic elements, Neon Roots reimagines the idea of roots not as fixed or static,” said the artist. “But as living, adaptive forces, constantly shifting between past and present.”

Producing new pieces from her ongoing series “Interior,” which focuses on psychological space and inward perception.

What’s next: “EmpoweredHER,” a group exhibition of women artists from the Atlanta area, at the Emma Darnell Aviation Museum and presented by Fulton County Arts & Culture. March.13.

Her recent work, “Roots: She Holds the Origin,” was selected for the show.

Where to buy: