My Name is Eliran Bar On, and I Paint What I Feel
I’m not just a painter. I’m someone who uses art to survive, to breathe, and to tell the truth. I work primarily with oil on canvas, creating layered portraits that reflect the emotional complexity of being human — especially when living with post-trauma.
My journey into painting didn’t begin in art school. It started in childhood with a love for drawing that was buried for years. It wasn’t until my mother found an old sketchbook and reminded me of that forgotten passion that I picked up a pencil again.
From charcoal to pencil, acrylic to oil — I experimented with mediums until oil paint stopped me in my tracks. There’s something wild and untamable about it. Something alive. That intensity mirrored the way I feel inside. And that’s when everything changed.
Living and Painting With Post-Trauma
I live with post-trauma. It doesn’t define me, but it’s part of me. It walks beside me — sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly. When I paint, the noise fades. Sometimes, it disappears.
Trauma has shaped the way I see people — not just as faces, but as layers. I rarely paint just one version of a person. We are all made of layers: of memories, fears, hopes, versions of ourselves we no longer recognize. That’s what I try to capture on canvas.
Often, I paint myself more than once in the same portrait — because I am never alone. The functional me is always standing next to the post-traumatized me. We are both there, in every piece.
What My Art Is About
I focus mostly on portraiture — because everything is written in the face.
I paint emotions: joy, pain, silence, intensity, love, and disconnection.
Sometimes, the emotion is uncomfortable. That’s okay. Real emotion should make us feel something — not just decorate a wall.
My work is expressive, layered, and sometimes confrontational. But above all, it’s honest.
My Mission as an Artist
If you’ve ever lived with trauma, anxiety, depression — or if you’ve ever simply felt too much — my art is for you.
I want people to stand in front of one of my paintings and feel something shift. I want them to connect with a part of themselves they didn’t know needed to be seen.
Whether you’re here to collect, rent, or simply observe — I hope you leave this page having seen something real.
