Who's Lyela?

I’m Lyela Gadsden, a Gullah Geechee woman from Charleston, South Carolina. A multidisciplinary artist who loves to create vibrant, thought-provoking art that focuses on African American cultural heritage, Lowcountry landscapes, and environmental conservation. My artwork includes acrylic paintings, debris art, sculpture, and jewelry. I have always been artistic and started my practice as a child, sketching portraits of musical artists and eyes on paper. 

In 2019, I began to create consistently and prioritized my artistic career. My family and friends would commission pieces for me to paint before I started my business. This showed me that my art was in demand, and I could be a successful artist if I kept creating. When I started painting on large canvases at the beginning of my art career, the pieces were fluid and imaginative. For example, my piece Growth is based on a wonderland. It features a woman sitting on a sunflower. Then there's a pig head growing from the core of the sunflower. The woman and the pig are in the sky, almost touching the clouds.

As I started to create more art pieces, I began to create pieces that were not just aesthetically appealing but held meaning. In 2023, I was selected to be a part of the Gullah Geechee CREATE program, where artists participate in cleanups and create art from the debris. After participating in this program, it opened my eyes to creating art from discarded materials. I love that debris art adds texture, radiant colors, and is also sustainable.

Currently, I’m working on a Gullah Geechee heritage series that will feature paintings, sculptures, and mixed media pieces. My artistic goals for the next two years are to have a solo exhibit, create public art (murals, sculptures), and connect with more people through my art.

Subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on social media to stay informed about my journey! Instagram: Lyelas.art

Email: Lyelagadsden@gmail.com

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