06-19-2024 BSAi
Current News
dondeleva.com Last Updated 9-08-2024 Before Sentient Ai
DeLeva has been in the studio since his last solo show at the Confluence Gallery early 2024. He is currently building a transformative series of portraits that focuses on the delicate balance between online synthetic persona and real-world self-projection.
Techina, July 22-Sept 23 2022 @ the Confluence Twisp
Current Painting
2022 BSAi
Portrait for Elise Meitner: 48in x 48in oil, graphite, 23k gold leaf on panel, 6.30.2022BAi >owned Penelope Varn <
B1 | Pre-Techina , oil on wood, 32″x 40″
Graphite
A little context for my work:
Don DeLeva creates surreal portraits of personalities, aberrations and apparitions that people use as online persona. His is an exploration of contemporary identity. By capturing these surreal, digital avatars in traditional mediums like oils on wood panels, he’s not only preserving our current online personas but also challenging and expanding the boundaries of traditional vs synthetic portraiture. DeLeva’s blending of the ephemeral with the enduring offers a unique commentary on how we navigate and express our identities in the digital age. It’s a reminder that even as our online selves can be transient or exaggerated, there’s a deep and lasting significance in how we choose to represent ourselves.
DeLeva has been painting, printing and drawing for over 30 years. In the mid-eighties he received a BFA in drawing and printmaking at the University of the Pacific, under Daniel Kasser. He then moved on to receive an MFA of Printing at Bradley University under the guidance of Master Printer Oscar Gillespie. Currently, Don’s studio is in Seattle Washington where he continues creating portraits of personalities that can only have existed in the 21st century.