Name
Lena Vieiro
About
Lena Vieiro (b. 1984) is from Vigo, a port town in the region of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. She has been drawing, painting, sculpting, and creating art in any way that she can ever since she realized that she could. She grew up surrounded by nature, which is one of the primary sources of inspiration for her art. Although Vigo is an industrial city, on the weekends Lena’s family would travel to her grandparents’ house in the pueblo, where there were chickens, pigs, cows, etc., and the land was cultivated for growing food. She would spend countless hours running around with her cousins and playing in nature. Those bucolic weekends of her childhood are among the primary influences on her subject matter.
She studied Fine Arts at Universidade de Belas Artes de Pontevedra, where she earned a BFA in Drawing and Painting, while also maintaining a strong interest in Sculpture, Printmaking, and Metalsmithing. While in undergrad, she received a Séneca grant to study at Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain. During her final year of university, she received an Erasmus grant to study at the George Enescu National University of Arts, in Iași, Romania.
After university she became more interested in 3D art, especially Metalsmithing and Ceramics. She enrolled in a jewelry program and began taking ceramic classes in Vigo. She also started working at an all-women’s jewelry atelier, surrounded by exceptional female teachers and friends.
In 2013 she moved to the United States, along with her partner and artistic collaborator, Eric Joseph Leffler, with the goal of making a living as professional artists. In October 2014 they eventually settled in Long Beach, CA, where they have been living happily ever since. Through the years Lena has been a member of the Collective Print Studio in Long Beach, the Los Angeles Printmaking Society, and Clay on 1st, a ceramic studio in downtown Long Beach. She currently maintains her studio practice at the Long Beach Artists' Co-Op, in a space that she shares with Eric, and their beautiful dog, Goya.