“Conceptually, my art plays with the subjectivity of seeing. I find it fascinating that science cannot establish one definitive, shared way that we perceive the world. My work embraces multiplicities of viewpoints, and while it is experimental in form, I consider it a kind of realism.”

— John Ligda, 2021

About the Artist

John is a lifelong artist with an extraordinary excitement for life. His style is versatile and you’ll find Chinese techniques influences blended with other forms of experimentation in his art. Collaboration with other artists in his home state or while traveling reveals the driving force behind his efforts: Connection. Ultimately, art is a source of connection between the viewer, the drawing, the models, the artist and the stories behind them. Abstract figurative drawings are central in his body of work, inviting the viewer to consider the mysterious nature of body movement. When he’s not working in his studio or traveling, he can often be found performing with local dance groups in front of live audiences all around the Bay Area.

To learn more details about John's current works and projects, check out the blog.

  • I believe drawing is an act of surrender. Of connection. Of giving up control and letting beauty and energy draw the lines. I was born in Northern California and raised in the Silicon Valley, watching computers dominate the world. Technology has shaped my worldview. I needed more than this, though. Then my entry into the art world started when I took a course in Chinese Art and Art History in Taiwan in 1991-92.

    When in Taiwan, I had the opportunity to learn techniques from the daughter of the court artist to Chiang Kai Shek, Liang Dan Fong, who became my mentor. A circle of established painters accepted me among them and gave me a Chinese name—Li Da—that remains my artist signature, hand-carved in the chop. Eastern philosophy has always been an important influence on my work, and when my practice moved into a form of expressive figurative and abstract drawing in 2011, it inevitably honored traditional Chinese brushwork.

    Since then, art has given me the ability to connect to people, to work, to recovery. I’ve been drawing and exploring these connections for years, but it was from 2011 on that I focused even more on my art career. In 2011, I took a hiatus from technology work and took an extended art trip to central Europe. In 2014 I funded and pursued a conceptual project called “A Mark for Peace” (AMFP), that took me to the Middle East, where I aimed to educate myself, to collaborate with, and empower other artists. In 2015, I performed A Mark for Peace, an exploration of art amid politics, onstage in London, exhibiting and selling every piece I produced during the performance.

    The images I create are done in collaboration with life models, artists, and other subjects who project palpable energy. My subjects range from the first professional male Palestinian ballet dancer, freedom fighters in Ukraine to the subject of the people’s choice award Sundance 2016. I often draw in front of a live audience, immersed in dance and other experimental settings.

    Meanwhile, I’ve taken part in several exhibitions and festivals, performances, and sold art to private collections around the globe to the present day. Nowadays, I dedicate myself to continue drawing, performing, and connecting my art and other artists to selected audiences around the world via The 21 Treks Project, started in 2021.