Leeanna Chipana

Leeanna Chipana (b. 1981, New York) is a Quechuan American painter who works primarily in oil on canvas or board. Chipana studied at the Grand Central Atelier and received her MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art in 2017. She has participated in group exhibitions at the Long Island Museum, the Heckscher Museum, Southampton Arts Center, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, Amelie A. Wallace Gallery of SUNY Old Westbury, and the Wilkinson Gallery of New York Academy of Art. Woman with Alpaca, a painting included in the group exhibition, “Parallels & Peripheries: Practice & Presence” at the New York Academy of Art was featured in the New York Times. Chipana was also included in American Art Collector Magazine’s “10 Painters to Watch” and was named by Miradas Magazine as one of eighteen Peruvian Americans of note living and working in the US.

Deploying indigenous iconography while referencing her background in classical European oil painting, Chipana infuses her art with layers of meaning that result in a unique style. Building upon her Quechuan identity and extensive knowledge of historical oil painting, Chipana’s love of ancient Moche portrait vessels shines through her figures of indigenous people inhabiting natural landscapes.

Chipana’s current work is a series of figurative paintings of present-day indigenous women by which she aims to celebrate their strength, beauty, and resilience while highlighting their unique experiences and honoring their cultural heritage. Chipana’s paintings are a powerful reminder of the continuing presence and significance of indigenous cultures in our world.