LEYLA CUI
Portfolio
Book
Bio
Leyla Cui (2002) is an award-winning illustrator, artist, and writer based in New York City. Her work draws on psychology and philosophy, weaving lived experience with fantasy and the natural world to create contemplative visual narratives exploring interconnectedness, empathy, and shared vitality that binds all forms of life.
Her recent projects include Between Dreamscapes (solo, Temple Gallery, NYC, 2024), which examined the instability of memory and the dream state. She was selected for the NYC Subway Public Art Initiative (Visionary Projects, 2024), bringing her exploration of intimacy and identity into the public sphere. Her multimedia works are featured on Artsy.
She is a recipient of the Young Ones ADC Award (2026) and the Society of Illustrators Alan Peckolick $1,500 Scholarship, with further recognition from Communication Arts, the China Illustration Yearbook (Excellent Works Award), and the Booooooom Illustration Awards. See more works featured on Booooooom. At 17, she published I Was Meant to Meet You While Wandering (Beijing Arts and Crafts Publishing House, 2020), a collection of nearly 200 poems with paintings and illustrations, marking the beginning of her exploration into the intersections of word, image, and emotion.
EDUCATION
2022-2023
Studio Art (BFA) at New York University
2023-2026
Illustration (BA) at the School of the Visual Arts, expected to graduate in 2026
AWARDS
2026Young Ones ADC Awards, Illustration Category (Winner)
Society of Illustrators, Alan Peckolick $1,500 Scholarship Award
Communication Arts Illustration Awards (Shortlist)
Booooooom Illustration Awards (Longlist)
China Illustration Yearbook (Excellent Works Award)
2025
Creative Quarterly 80 (Runner-up)
BIBF International Illustration Awards (Longlist)
iJungle Global Illustration Awards (Self-Promotion Merit Award)
2024
NYC Subway Public Art Initiative, Visionary Projects (Selected Artist)
Booooooom Illustration Awards (Longlist)
2023
iJungle Global Illustration Awards (New Talent Merit Award)
PUBLICATIONS & PRESS
2025Artron × Art Headline (Exclusive Feature)
Create! Magazine, 9th Anniversary Issue (Selected Artist)
Artsin Square Magazine, Issue 9 (Awarded Artist)
Bold Journey Magazine (Artist Interview)
2024
Artsy (Solo Exhibition Feature)
Art To Hearts Magazine
Divide Magazine
Artsin Square Magazine
Suboart Magazine
2020
Beijing Arts and Crafts Publishing House
I Was Meant to Meet You While Wandering (Poetry & Visual Art Collection)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024Between Dreamscapes, Temple Gallery, New York City, NY
2021
Metamorphosis, Hongtang Culture Communication Co. Ltd, SH
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025Switchboard, SVA Chelsea Gallery, NY
2024
Desire: Body Without Organs, A Space Gallery, NY
Beyond Boundaries, Artsin Square × Art Megastar (Virtual Exhibition), Los Angeles, CA
The Imaginary Made Real, Berry Campbell Gallery, NY
2023
A Happy Beginning, LATITUDE Gallery, NY
Genesis: A New Generation of Chinese Artists, Chambers Fine Art, NY
Resonance, Barney Gallery, NY
2019
Holding Hands, The Space Gallery, SH
Published Poetry Collection, 2020
Translated Selections, Postcard Edition