About Leah Davis
Leah Davis (b.1986, Thurso, Scotland)
MA Fine Art - with Merit (2022)
BA Contemporary Art - First Class (2020)
Works from her studio in Lossiemouth, Scotland
Leah Davis is a Scottish figurative painter known for her quiet yet emotionally charged oil portraits of women caught in stillness. Her work explores the spaces where memory, emotion, myth, and the subconscious intertwine. Often surreal and gently intense, her figures reflect the rich inner lives we all carry but rarely reveal.
Raised in Thurso, the northernmost town on the Scottish mainland, Davis grew up with a strong sense of otherness. That early experience of feeling out of place shapes her worldview and continues to inform her art. Her subjects are often solitary, captured in moments suspended between the external world and their inner terrain, inviting viewers to slow down and look inward.
Themes of transformation, vulnerability, and empowerment run throughout her work. Recurring motifs such as clown ruffles and bowties nod to the trickster archetype and to her grandmother, whose love of clowns and magic left a lasting impression. These personal threads are woven into a symbolic visual language, layered with emotion and narrative.
As her practice evolves, Davis is exploring larger tapestry-inspired works that combine painting with texture and textile techniques. These immersive pieces deepen her engagement with memory, storytelling, and ancestral connection.
Her paintings have been exhibited widely from the Highlands of Scotland to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and she was runner-up in the 2023 Highland Art Prize. Leah holds an MA in Fine Art (Merit) and a BA in Contemporary Art (First Class), working from her studio in Lossiemouth, Scotland.
Her paintings continue to resonate with collectors, curators, and kindred spirits alike.
“I’m Leah, a collector of curiosities and oddities both in the world around me and inside myself.
Growing up in the northernmost town on mainland Scotland, I often felt out of place. I have been called “too weird” and “spooky,” and those words stuck with me in ways I’m still unpacking.
That feeling of not quite fitting in is where my art comes from. I make paintings for anyone who’s ever felt like their softness or their weirdness made them stand out, like being different was something to hide rather than celebrate.
My work is like a quiet friend, composed of stories, myths, and a hint of magic, that’s here to remind us that vulnerability is strength and being ourselves is powerful.
If you are on your journey of healing, growing, or simply trying to embrace who you are, I hope you find something here that makes you feel seen, held, and a little less alone.”
