I paint still moments and quiet places where time seems to pause for a while. My work is inspired by nature and emerges from an intuitive process in which shapes and colors appear spontaneously. I paint from imagination, searching for a balance between abstraction and figuration, exploring freely through texture, geometry, and pattern.
As abstract images and symbolic faigures unfold, my mind grows silent and I surrender to surprise. In this quiet state, I look with my soul and listen to my inner voice. While my paintings depict the natural world around us, they act as a mirror in which our inner nature is reflected. My artwork is a journey of spiritual connection. I paint to remember who I am and to share my silence with those who want to listen to their own voice.
BIOGRAPHY
Lorena Velez was born in Lima, Peru (1973). Initially, she pursued a career as a children’s therapist, but her visual sensitivity and her desire to create led her to the world of art.
In 2006, Velez started as a self-taught painter. Nature has been the central theme in her artwork. She has always worked from memory and imagination through an intuitive process.
In Velez’s early paintings, nature was expressed through the physicality of the materials. Textures from acrylic, abstract shapes, and organic brushstrokes evoked the various marks found in nature. Written phrases have always been included in her paintings, not only as a visual element but as a way to express through poetry, her most deep reflections, as she wrote, “My paintings are a channel to uncover my inner world and the result of my spiritual journey”.
As her style evolved, she began incorporating more defined shapes within a linear framework. Velez's artistic career has been shaped by living throughout diverse cities across America, from Lima to Chapel Hill, Atlanta, Caracas, and Bogotá. Each location contributed to her artistic growth with a unique blend of experiences and insights.
In 2017, Velez moved to New York to further hone her skills. She enrolled in The New York Studio School, where she earned a master’s degree in Fine Arts in 2020. During her first years at school, she worked from perception, more realistically, exploring the figure through drawing, painting, and sculpture. This shift allowed Velez to discover a new language where her past and her present merged, imbuing her artwork with a balance between reality and imagination.
Today, Lorena Velez resides in Miami, Florida. Her dedication and talent were recognized in 2023 when she received the prestigious Mercedes Matter Award for her painting "Summer Palm."
EDUCATION
2018 - 2020 New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture - MFA in Painting
2017 - 2018 New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture - Certificate Program in Painting
2011 Drawing course with Martha Goldstein - Bogota, Colombia
2008 - 2009 Painting course with Margaret Salazar - Caracas, Venezuela
1990 - 1995 Universidad Femenina del Sagrado Corazon. Special Education. Children Therapist: Speech and Learning disabilities.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 A Piece of Us - Miami, FL
2021 Caminos, Lima - Peru
2013 Metamorfosis, Indigo Gallery, Lima -Peru
2011 Dans Paris, Los Inkas Golf Club, Lima- Peru
2009 Ramas y Hojas, Caracas Venezuela
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 Art Motiv: Feria de Arte Contemporaneo, Museo Amano -- Lima, Peru
2025 Red Dot Miami Art Fair -- Miami, Fl
2025 Collective Art exhibition at casa 100 and Sotheby’s -- Lima, Peru
2025 Collective Art exhibition los Inkas Golf Club -- Lima-Peru
2024 Collective exhibition Hispafest - Museum of Contemporary Art of The Americas -- Miami, FL
2024 New York studio school alumni association- ARTSY -- New York, USA
2024 Collective exhibition Los Inkas Golf Club, lima Peru
2024 Collective exhibition “Hispanic Heritage” Doral Cultural Center, Miami FL
2024 “Anonymous was a masterpiece” New York Studio School, New York USA
2023 DO! Juried Artist Show by Uncool Artist, "Always Something There To Remind Me" -- Brooklyn, USA
2023 New York Studio School Alumni Association Exhibition by Artsy - New York, USA (Mercedes Matter Award Winner)
2023 Anonymous was a Masterpiece, New York Studio School - New York, USA
2022 Anonymous was a Masterpiece, New York Studio School - New York, USA
2020 New York Studio School Alumni Association Exhibition by Artsy - New York, USA
2020 Eight Street Women, New York, USA
2019 Anonymous was a Masterpiece, New York Studio School - New York, USA
2018 XIX Exhibition: Arte Kapala, Forum Gallery - Lima, Peru
2017 XVIII Exhibition: Arte Kapala, Forum Gallery - Lima, Peru
2016 XVII Exhibition: Arte Kapala, Forum Gallery - Lima, Peru
2010 Naturaleza - Caracas, Venezuela
GALLERY
