Dalia Alejandra is a Cuban artist based in the Greater Toronto Area, working primarily with graphite.

Drawing has been part of her life from an early age. Growing up in Cuba, she was always drawing, often with chalk as well as pencil and paper.

Art later took a back seat for several years while she pursued undergraduate studies in Canada and, later, a master’s degree in Portugal. It was during her three years abroad that she gradually found her way back to drawing.

While living in Europe, Dalia spent time volunteering with animals across Spain, Portugal, and Ireland, including goats, sheep, and horses. In Portugal, she also travelled regularly to the outskirts of Lisbon to volunteer at a centre focused on horse-assisted therapy and dressage.

Spending so much time around horses gave her both the subject and the space to reconnect with art. She began sketching them in her spare time, eventually developing those studies into more detailed graphite portraits.

What began as a return to an old interest gradually became the foundation of her current practice, bringing together close observation, realistic drawing, and a longstanding connection to horses.