Leyla Carleo (b. 1989, Venezuela) lives and works in the Bay Area, California. She holds a BA in Communication Studies from San Francisco State University. She’s a designer and artist combining her multidisciplinary practices she creates a varied body of work. Leyla makes an assortment of brown girls and characters, building her visual aesthetic by exploring hand-made techniques, like papier-mâché, preferring the texture of traditional mediums.
As a Designer, she specializes in creating work in the arts, film and performance sectors and collaborations with nonprofit/activist organizations and artists to create work that addresses social justice and community building, as a means of resistance and collective empowerment.
Photograph by Angelica Torres
GROUP SHOWS/EXHIBITIONS
2025
Lunar 2025 — Year of the Snake, Lunar, Tea Lyfe, San José, CA
Universal Language, Tradición Peruana Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
2024
Strange Love, pop-up exhibition, Academic Coffee, San José, CA
Lunar 2024 — Year of the Dragon, Lunar, Tea Lyfe, San José, CA
San José Day, Empire Seven Studios, San José, CA
Sailor Sweets, La Lune Sucrée, San José, CA
Celebrating Hayao Miyazaki, Empire Seven Studios, San José, CA
Goofy: An Exploration of Radical Softness, Teen Tech Center at MACLA, San José, CA
Friends of Friends, The Midway, San Francisco, CA
Orgullo, Cukui, San José, CA
Posted!, Noble Workshop & Gallery, San José, CA
2023
Martha Street: Creative Corner, pop-up exhibition, Empire Seven Studios, San José, CA
CV
EDUCATION
San Francisco State University
Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies
Shillington School of Design
Graphic Design
COMMISSIONS
2025
Affordable Housing Month 2025, digital illustration, SV@Home
Pro-immigration Poster Series, digital illustration, Yosimar Reyes
Latina Equal Pay Day 2025, papier-mâché art activation, Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley
2024
Native American Heritage Month 2024, papier-mâché art installation, Foothill College