Annelisa Leinbach is an artist based in Berlin, Germany.
Raised in Arizona in a family of geologists, Annelisa drew her first creative inspiration from camping in the deserts and mountains of the American Southwest. She seeks a deeper connection to nature via an interplay between scientific rationalism and spiritual mysticism.
Working predominantly in oil on canvas, she first develops her ideas by sketching from life in the outdoors. Constantly seeking sacred meaning in the everyday, she creates visual mythologies that help viewers find a sense of wonder in their relationships with the land and ecosystems around them. She explores the poetry and eroticism of the human figure through portraiture, playing with vibrant color relationships. Drawing from Renaissance oil painting technique, folk art, and illuminated manuscripts as well as digital modeling and photo collage, Annelisa builds links between the distant past and an imagined future. Her love of travel and constant movement drives her to visually capture a sense of freedom and adventure. She also has extensive experience working as an editorial illustrator for publications revolving around nature, science and technology, and philosophy.
Annelisa studied painting at Yale University. She has traveled to over 35 countries to exhibit work, paint murals, and lead workshops. Clients include Starr Restaurants, Freethink, Big Think, the Yale Art Gallery, the Phoenix Mural Project, Foundation OBRAS, The Art of Eating, and a variety of galleries and private clients. She also teaches guest workshops at arts centers on topics such as painting nature and sketchbook practice.
If you are interested in working together, please email annelisa@annelisaleinbach.com
Education
BFA with Distinction, Art, Yale University, New Haven, CT, Class of 2016
2022-23 Community Herbalism Certificate Program, Common Good City Farm, Washington, DC
2017 Internationaler Architektur-Summerworkshop: Future Makers, Universität der Künste Berlin
2013 Auvillar Advanced Studio Fellowship, Yale University, Auvillar, France
2011 Painting and Figure Drawing Intensive, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2010 Fine Art Intensive, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, Washington, DC
Selected Exhibitions
2024 Spiritual Ecosystems, Prachtwerk, Berlin, Germany
2023 The Creative Machine, Solo Painting Exhibition, Rhizome, Washington, DC
2021-23 In-house Illustrator, Big Think and Freethink
2021 Resident Artist, Arquetopia, Puebla, Mexico
2020 Resident Artist, Talking Tree Ranch, Placerville, California
2020 All Together Now, Vidroh Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
2019 Rebirth, K-Bach Gallery, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2019 Complicit: Erasure of the Body, Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT
2018 Resident Artist, Foundation OBRAS, Estremoz, Portugal
2018 Resident Artist, Ponderosa Arts Centre, Stolzenhagen, Germany
2017 Central City South Mural Project, Phoenix, Arizona, sponsored by Phoenix Mural Project
2017 Berlin Graphic Days, Berlin, Germany
2017 Resident Artist, Kunsthalle Flath, Bad Segeberg, Germany
2017 August 2017 Artist Exchange with Art Aia, Venice, Italy
2017 Invisible Cities, Solo Show, La Dolce Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2016 Sweet Sixteen, Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT
2015 Mural Collaboration with Street Artist Daze, Yale Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
2013 Auvillar Advanced Studio Fellowship, Auvillar, France, and Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT
Awards
2017 STEP Travel Grant, European Cultural Foundation
2016 Ethel Childe Walker Prize for Exceptional Artistic Development of a Yale Art Major
2016 Nominee, Sudler Prize for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts at Yale
2016 Morrison Prize for Outstanding Artistic Contributions to the Yale Record
Teaching
2022-23 Instructor, Rhizome Arts Center, Washington DC
2018 Instructor, Phoenix Center for the Arts, Phoenix, Arizona
2017 Painting Teacher, Malsalon Studio, Berlin, Germany
2016 Berlin Associate, ArtBound Initiative