The Beyond Walls Mural Festival arrived to Lynn in August featuring 20+ artists from countries all over the world including Argentina, France, the Dominican Republic, Cambodia, the Netherlands among others… The second annual festival transformed 28 walls, including one from Kilia Llano, a fine artist, illustrator and art teacher from the Dominican Republic that created a stunning piece inspired by the nations rich environmental culture.
About the Mural
Llano’s mural is a wonderful portrayal of the culture which inhabits the Dominican Republic. With a concept in mind prior to arriving to Lynn; taken from a photograph of an island woman she recreated it onto a large scale wall. The artist not only did a remarkable job painting a realistic portrait, it also features elements inspired by how natives live and express themselves through a love of the nature that surrounds them. Positioned behind the ear of the women is a “Cayena” flower, commonly found in the Caribbean, the large red-colored petals often 10 centimeters long make it a popular perennial that locals grow in their gardens. Water is also an essential part of life in the DR which Llano highlighted setting the woman to a backdrop of a pool, painted in shades of light blue and white.
About the Artist
Born in Santo Domingo Kilia Llano is a fine artist, illustrator and art teacher. Her educational background in art is extensive, studying fine art and illustration at Altos De Chavón School Of Design and receiving a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and illustration at New York’s Parsons School Of Design. She’s also attended Universitat De Barcelona to study art history as well as art education at the Unibe University in Santo Domingo. She’s participated in several collective art shows as well as five solo shows in Santo Domingo, Barcelona and Miami. Since 2012, she’s visited many cities and communities around the DR, working with a myriad of different artists and being commissioned to paint murals. She’s also participated as an international guest artist at the Art festival “Voz de Vida” in the city of Pasto, Colombia, and was a resident artist at Graniti Murales in Sicily, Italy.
