Kaila Mears

Artist Bio – Kaila Mears

Born and raised in Downtown Hollywood, Florida, Kaila Mears grew up surrounded by creativity. As the daughter of a potter and fiber artist, and a painter, and the granddaughter of a woodworker, photographer, and doll maker, art has always been part of her world. That artistic lineage, combined with a deep love for the environment and a rebellious spirit, naturally led her to create bold, mixed media works that celebrate the beauty in what others discard.

Specializing in upcycled materials, Kaila’s work fuses bohemian, punk, and witchy aesthetics with themes of environmentalism, feminism, and reclamation. Her creative journey with upcycling began unexpectedly — first with a massive lot of fabric samples from a closing upholstery company, then with the guts of an old hard drive a friend handed her to take apart. What started as curiosity soon became a passionate exploration of how waste can be transformed into art that sparks conversation and change.

The moment that truly cemented Kaila’s commitment to her art came after the loss of her mother to cancer. Her mother was a lifelong artist but never found the confidence to take her work beyond small craft shows. That experience fueled Kaila’s determination to carry her family’s creative legacy forward — and to go as far as she can.

Largely self-taught, Kaila credits her family for much of her artistic foundation, while her resourcefulness and experimentation have filled in the rest. For six years, she owned and operated her own studio and thrift shop, where she not only sold her work but sourced many of the discarded materials that inspire it. Her art challenges viewers to rethink their relationship with the planet, to see the overlooked and broken as worthy, beautiful, and full of potential.

Her work has been featured locally, including a fiber arts exhibit at Artis Fine Art Gallery in Downtown Hollywood. Most recently, her collection of cyber jewelry — crafted from salvaged computer parts — is set to debut at Walk the Runway at ArtServe in Downtown Fort Lauderdale.

As a mother of two grown children, Kaila hopes her art and her journey show them — and others — that it’s never too late to chase your dreams or to work toward a world where we live with greater care and connection, not only to each other, but to the planet that sustains us.