Worth and value established by societal implications results in the hunt for “ideal beauty”.  Leilani
Bustamante provokes this common delusion by exposing and accentuating the natural asperity of flesh.
These works discredit the unrealistic esthetic by peeling away the idealized facades — exhuming the
splendor beneath the surface, exasperating true perfection, and literally revealing corporeal inner beauty.

Leilani Bustamante was born in Santa Rosa California and is a graduate of the Academy of Art
University.  She grew up between the suburban sprawl and rural Fort Bragg, where she draws inspiration
from their simultaneous decay and growth.  Her work often voices themes of mortality exploring
elements of death, rebirth, beauty and spoil, the loveliness of the macabre and the mournful influence of
osteological motifs. She currently lives and works in San Francisco.