MEET LANA DENINA

Lana Denina Cohen-Solal, also known as Miss Lanouch, is a Montreal-based painter of Beninese and French origin. Her art explores human relationships, morphological diversity and body movements. Combining digital art and painting, she illustrates the different cultures surrounding her through a unique and personal approach. She believes in the representation of people of colour in contemporary art, more particularly black culture.

Painting the world as she sees it.

How would you describe your art?

Modern, aesthetic and raw.

Talk to us about your creative process.

It’s a melting pot of everything around me and everything I experience. When I paint, it’s like I’m telling a story and the people on the canvas are a mix of the faces that have stuck with me that day, or week, or month. I always incorporate interesting hairstyles, clothes and accessories. It is a process that is also improvised, none of my pieces are fully fleshed out when I start. A painting could take me 20 minutes, like it could take me a month to finish, it all depends on my state of mind.

What is inspiring you right now?

I am currently and always inspired by feminine bodies and nudity.

Can you talk to us about your next project?

I’m working on many things at the moment. My main through line is normalizing female nudity and dismantling slutshaming. I have also just released exclusive digital versions of my paintings on my website.

What are your go-to shoes?

Nude heels, the kind of heel-sandal hybrid that goes with everything. They’re comfy and oh so cute!