Born in California to a South African artist and an African American musician, Leila Fanner was raised in South Africa, where she currently works as a painter and illustrator in her studio in Riebeek Kasteel.
After her studies at the Johannesburg National School of the Arts, she took private tuition in both graphic design and watercolor painting, holding her first exhibition at the age of 23.
Fanner is both a figurative and an abstract painter, and about her work, she stated: “The dominant focus as I work is the quality of my thoughts and the connection to emotion during the creative process. I always try to create from a place of inspired action or enthusiasm. Often, negative and painful thought patterns can come to the surface as one works, because art creation is a deeply cathartic experience. Solitude also evokes deeply held memories and emotions. Keeping my focus clear, honest, and joyful is a discipline similar to meditation. This is the unseen ‘art’ that comes with each piece of work. My subject matter is either figurative or abstract representations of the ‘dream or unseen’ world, filled with versions of South African flora and fauna.”