Creative practice
Bio
Through the sensory experience of mark making, Leanna Marie Manning scribbles other worlds. Her work is in constant search for what moves imagination when the body feels attuned to the things around her. Leanna plays with materials that feel good to touch, to see, to smell. Her works dwells in the threshold between the hard sensorial surfaces and affective flows and terrains. Hers is a neurodivergent art: the perpetual search for the canvas that exceeds the frame as it creates its own room in our everyday spaces.
From painting to scribbling, drawing to writing, Leanna’s art gravitates towards other possibilities. She works with watercolours and pencil crayons on heavy stock paper, and she loves photography. Her work reflects on the flows that (over)whelm her. Every trace, and every scribble, is fugitivity affirming divergence, both neural and physical. Her art practice helps locate herself in her body in a world that is often chaotic to be a part of. It’s a practice of observation and it’s a practice of integration.
She grew up in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, moving to Toronto to pursue a career in interior design and graduating from the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) in 2010. Currently Leanna works in accessible communications while living a life full of colour, light, and texture. Much like her art, this professional work is about creating spaces open for divergence and difference. She works with an array of clients, from organizations and collectives to university professors and marketing teams.
Exhibitions
2025 — James Black Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2024 — Illuminating the Invisible; Chronic Pain Project, Portland, OR
2023 — Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival, Vancouver, BC
2023 — The Gallery George, Vancouver, BC
Publications
2024 — The Frame Fanzine cover art; Issue 5: All about love and loss
2023 — The Frame Fanzine artist submission; Issue 4: All about neurodiversity
Education
2010 — Ontario College of Art & Design; Bachelor of Design in Environmental Design, Toronto, ON
Leanna Marie Manning smiling at the camera. The photo is taken at the Frida Kahlo Museum, also known as the Blue House (La Casa Azul). Leanna has captured this iconic cobalt blue behind her.