Leesa

Gray-Pitt

Leesa Gray-Pitt is a didactic artist whose work channels the raw edges of grief, identity, and feminine power. Navigating the profound loss of her daughter, Star Dawn, Leesa’s creative practice became both sanctuary and lifeline—where words failed, the brush took over, and where paint could not suffice, the pen found its voice. Her art is an act of survival, a spiritual inquiry, and a reclamation of self.

Beginning her creative career in the fashion industry, Leesa worked for over a decade as a celebrated hair and makeup artist, earning the title of Hair and Makeup Artist of the Year in 2003. Her intimate understanding of the human face—its emotions, its masks, its truths—naturally evolved into a deep passion for portraiture. After years of working with public figures across fashion, television, and bridal industries, she returned to painting in 2016, compelled by an urgent need to express her grief and make sense of a world transformed by loss.

Leesa holds a Master of Fine Arts (2021) and has exhibited widely in group shows, achieving a key milestone with her first solo exhibition at BlackCat Gallery in 2021. Her work has been shaped by international experiences, including an artist residency at Château d’Orquevaux in France (2019) and a mentorship through the ‘Quarantine’ program in Menorca, Spain (2023). As former Vice President of RedWest Creative Co-op, she also played a pivotal role in cultivating a thriving local arts community.

Her multidisciplinary practice draws heavily on influences from fashion, mythology, and the occult, using layers of imagery, text, and material to dissect the intersectional feminine identity. Each portrait is both an homage and a protest—featuring women adorned with butterflies, gems, and botanical symbols that speak to innocence, resilience, and the complexities of beauty in a patriarchal world. These motifs—carefully chosen and deeply symbolic—serve as a visual language through which Leesa unpacks overlapping identities, societal constraints, and spiritual reclamation.

Leesa’s work is unapologetically personal yet profoundly universal. It explores the sublime tension between fragility and power, between vulnerability and transcendence. At its core, her art invites viewers into a deeply intimate space—one where beauty is not performative but redemptive, and where grief becomes a sacred act of creation.