Painting Colorful Life After Cancer: A Journey of Resilience

Introduction: Lina Gelfer found a second life through art. Her paintings are deeply personal—born from struggle, shaped by resilience, and lifted by faith. In this conversation, Lina opens up about the emotional threads that connect her love series, black-background dream paintings, and her powerful presidential-election pieces. Each brushstroke reflects her journey through pain, hope, love, life

Figure. 1. Linda at her house. Watch her works display.

celebration, music, dance, and transformation—revealing how life and art are intertwined at every turn.

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Figure. 2. Lina's initial works, color pencil, markers and pen on papers.

It All Began with a Pen and Paper

Lina recalls a quiet moment at a friend’s house, where a simple pen and paper rested on the table. She began to draw—almost instinctively. Having visited many museums over the years, she had long carried a desire to paint. That small moment marked the beginning of something much larger. Her artistic vision soon blossomed, evolving from paper, colored pencil, and mixed media into acrylic on canvas. From that point on, she never put her brushes down. Today, Lina is a deeply prolific artist, creating with passion, persistence, and a bold artistic voice.

Figure. 3. Acrylic on Canvas. Watch this video to see more of Linda's paintings.

LOVE, EXPRESSION, and ENERGY

Leila (People Around Us): Lina, your Love series explores tenderness through iconic imagery—kisses, embraces, abstract connections between lovers. Do you believe that when people think about love, it naturally manifests in their actions? In other words, do you see your paintings as a way to transfer love’s energy from an abstract thought into something tangible for the audience?

Lina: It is difficult for me to talk about the influence of my paintings on the viewer. I think it is best to ask the viewer. But undoubtedly, I sincerely wish that my art evokes feelings of love, kindness, and joy in people.

Figure 4. Lina's paintings, refer to her video where you can see the display of her paintings at her residential building patio.

CHOOSING COLORS and EXPRESSING EMOTIONS

Leila: How can we as humans spread love in everyday life—through small gestures or deeper understanding? Your use of color creates calmness, excitement, and hidden energy. How do you choose your palettes to enhance this emotional connection?

Lina: I don’t have a universal approach to choosing colors. Each painting is individually born under the influence of my feelings. Sometimes it comes as an inexplicable, divine voice descending from heaven and reaching me in my dreams. Love is omnipresent and can be seen in everything—in a look, in a word, in vibrant colors dancing like nature itself.

Figure 5. Lina’s artistic style moves in new directions, embracing greater movement, expressive brushstrokes, and rich textures that evoke atmospheric themes.

THE ROLE OF COLOR

Leila: Your colors are striking—both soothing and energizing. Do you choose colors instinctively, or is there a deeper intention behind your palette?

Lina: As I mentioned, my colors emerge from emotion and divine inspiration.

THE BLACK PAINTING SERIES

Leila: What inspired your black-background paintings? Does the black represent cosmic energy or the unseen forces of the universe? Your compositions feel like dance and musical rhythm. How do you view this interplay of energy, motion, and choreography?

Lina: Yes, I have a collection of black-and-white paintings depicting dreams in monochrome and color. These dreams reveal connections to space and the souls of people who have transcended mortality. The interaction between day and night unveils what is hidden during the day and visible only in the nocturnal hours. Everything in the natural world appears different depending on light’s delicate balance.

Figure 6. Acrylic on Canvas, the works were arranged by Leila to give viewers the better sense of Lina's works.

LIGHT, SHADOWS, and CONTRAST

Leila: Some of your black background works feature only white line figures. Can this be interpreted as the contrast between day and night—or as a balance between the light and dark moments of life?

Lina: Many of my paintings show interactions between people—with each other and with nature. Any form of communication is the beginning of transmitting moods, emotions, information, and relationships. My paintings display human life in all its manifestations.

HUMAN CONNECTION IN ART

Leila: Many of your works depict gatherings—people in conversation, dancing, or playing music. Do you believe these interactions are essential for human well-being? Do they symbolize the interconnectedness needed for our emotional fulfillment?

Lina: Naturally. The energy originates from space, and often I don’t understand its occurrence. But I believe we’re all linked by an unseen divine thread that spans from birth to death.

Figure 7. Acrylic on Canvas, the middle paintings is one of Lina's self-portrait that first was done in marker, then later was translated into acrylic on canvas.

INSPIRATION and CREATIVE ENERGY

Leila: What drives you to keep creating? Is there an emotion or force that fuels your artistic process?

Lina: Each artwork has its own meaning and color pattern, yet they all converge on the energy I capture from the cosmos. This energy moves toward kindness and love. As I’ve said, dreams give rise to the themes and colors of my paintings.

THE PURPOSE of ART

Leila: What emotions or messages do you hope to convey through your art? Do you want viewers simply to enjoy the beauty, or do you hope they feel the positive energy and movement that you put into each piece?

Lina: I believe art has a profound influence on a person’s consciousness. It shapes attitudes toward life, thoughts, desires, and emotions. Art is a powerful manifestation of human expression. It helps us battle both physical and mental hardships. Personally, it supported me during my struggle with illness. I hope my creations offer solace to viewers just as they have supported me.

Figure 8. Acrylic on Canvas, themes that are narrative and filled with dancing and musical elements, celebrating life and connection.

ART, HEALING, and TRANSFORMATION

Leila: Do you believe art can express emotions that words cannot? Has creating these paintings changed the way you view life?

Lina: I began painting during the most difficult moment of my life, when the question was life or death. When death stood at my bedside, a divine gift came to me that changed my view of everything. Through art, I found strength. I see all my artworks as my children—sometimes judged harshly, sometimes with awe, always with love.

GLOBAL EVENTS and PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS SERIES

Leila: What inspired your presidential-election paintings?

Lina: It was not my conscious intention. It might be the rules of the cosmos, or perhaps the cosmos itself knows the winners. As before, themes come to me in dreams or from various influences. I have also painted themes on the war in Ukraine and the situation in Israel. Through abstract art, I try to convey global events and encourage people to live in peace and love—regardless of political beliefs.

Figure 9. Leila and Lina on Reception ceremony for Paolo Alto Art Center 2025.

I want to express heartfelt gratitude to Leila for her invaluable assistance, to my friends who follow my work, to school and university mates, and to my family for their financial and moral support. I wish all of you good health and a long prosperous life.

Leila: Thank you so much for your time Lina, and for sharing your inspiring art with People Around Us.

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LINA GELFER Artist Bio:

A former professor of mathematics and physics in the USSR came to the US in 2010. Lina Gelfer lived a life governed by logic until age 76, when brain surgery and life in a long-term care facility became the catalyst for a radical reinvention. Trading equations for intuition, she began painting during rehabilitation, creating over 300 vibrant works in just two years while undergoing treatment. Her art, firmly rooted in the outsider tradition, is characterized by bold-energetic colors, swirling motion, and surreal iconography ranging from circus scenes, dancers and musicians to cosmic landscapes.

Lina’s paintings celebrate hope, love, and the human spirit. Lina’s journey from precise calculation to expressive freedom is a powerful example of resilience, proving that creativity can bloom under the most challenging circumstances.

LINA's UPCOMING EXHIBITION: 

• A Journey of Resilience and a Celebration of Life; Dancing through Adversity and the Symphony of Science and Soul.

• Hosted at ART BIAS: 1700 Industrial Rd Unit 207, San Carlos, CA 94070

• Time and Date: Sunday March 1st, 2026, at 2:30 P.M. to 3:00 P.M.

• Lina was also awarded as finalist certificate to present one of her paintings at the 75th International Artavita Online Art Contest at Art Expo New York, April 12th, 2026

LINA GELFER FACEBOOK: https://www.am-studios.com/about

LINA GELFER INSTAGRAM: @linagelfer

LINA GELFER WORKS FOR SALE

LINA GELFER PORTFOLIO AVAILABLE HERE