Leyla Cui — Surreal Illustrator, New York

From words to a feeling to an image. As a teenager, Leyla Cui was an accomplished poet but became fascinated with creating imagery because a picture can communicate across languages and cultures. As an illustrator, her work invites a connection – powerful yet nuanced, empathetic and conveying a sense of wonder for the world around us as well as the worlds within us.

Based between New York and Shanghai, Leyla has studied at Studio Art at New York University and the School of Visual Arts. Her work still often begins with words along with observation and sketching as she develops a visual narrative infused with symbolism, using colour to evoke feelings and composition to guide the viewer into the meaning of the image. Clients love her conceptual thinking, attention to detail and originality of thought. Across fashion, beauty, editorial and publishing, brands that appreciate true art are drawn to her. Leyla herself is inspired by psychology, philosophy, natural history and our connection with the environment. She enjoys Art Nouveau and Surrealist artworks, mythology, film and literature – wherever images blur the line between reality and the imagination.

Approach

With an approach that combines traditional and digital media, Leyla works in coloured pencil, watercolour and acrylic along with Procreate and Photoshop. “Many of my illustrations begin as hand-drawn sketches, helping me retain an organic quality even when working digitally,” she says.

Key software

Procreate and Adobe Photoshop.

Style

Curious and contemplative, Leyla’s work has a surreal, dreamlike quality, taking influences from the natural world and her own imagination. She explores themes of connection, transformation, memory, identity and coexistence