Yannis is an award-winning Cuban artist, author, mindful nature photographer, and arts-based workshop facilitator based in Toronto. As a photographer, Yannis specializes in minimalist and visual storytelling. She captures fleeting moments of beauty, patterns, sacred geometry, textures, and pareidolia (faces) in nature. Her photography invites viewers to pause and appreciate the stillness, calmness, and beauty found in the natural world. Yannis is passionate about slow creativity, mindful living, slow travel, and ethical photography. These principles are important to her work. She has received numerous awards and recognitions from the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Foundation. As a new Canadian, she has been able to exhibit her photographs and mixed-media artworks at various galleries in Toronto. Since 2016, Yannis has created community-engaged arts projects, producing over 100 bilingual (Spanish-English) creative writing and visual storytelling workshops for children (ages 6-12) and families. These workshops have been held at various Toronto public libraries, including the Maria A. Shchuka branch, Mount Dennis Library, Fort York Library, Forest Hill Library branch, and Bloor and Gladstone Library. Additionally, workshops have been conducted in private and public schools, such as West Preparatory Junior Public School and Alive Montessori School, as well as at Toronto festivals like the Happening Festival, CIFAC, and others, both online and with the global community. Since 2020, she has hosted and produced more than 60 episodes of "The Yannis Lobaina Podcast: We Should Talk," a podcast. Yannis is the Founder of AlbART Global Collective, where she led creative writing workshops and received the Local Leadership Grant, 2024, from the City of Toronto. She firmly believes that community art can be a powerful tool for social change and peacemaking.
