Hi, I’m Larissa, a contemporary artist based in Berlin, Germany. Born to a Kiwi mum and a German dad, I would always be the first to wake up as a child. To prevent me from waking up the rest of the family, specifically my two sisters, in the early hours of the morning, my mum encouraged me to draw. So I would sit there for hours at a time immersed in colours and paper, while everyone else slept in their beds, once in a while sneaking into the kitchen to nick a treat — I once ate all the sweets for my sister’s birthday the next day... Mum was so mad… but that’s a different story.

My mum, a talented artist herself, taught me many things, like shading and adding details. But while she is exceptionally good at drawing and painting details, for example, in still-life, I always felt too impatient to pursue such detailed drawing. Even in school, the rules that were taught during art class felt constraining. 

To me, art is a way to express emotions, bold, raw, explosive. As an anxious person, painting and being creative allows me to forget my worries and anxieties and express the joy and happiness I feel in life. I would describe my paintings as vibrant, expressive and bursting with joyful colours. I hope you can feel this when you look at my work and that my artworks can carry that light into your home.

When I do feel like adding finer details and releasing my inner, imaginative child, I focus on my children’s artwork, which you can find under larissamarieartKIDS.