Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Lenora de Barros studied linguistics at the University of São Paulo. She began her artistic practice in the 1970s, emerging from the concrete poetry movement to develop a multidisciplinary approach that bridges the gap between text and visual form.

Her work frequently utilizes the body as a site of linguistic and physical tension, employing media such as photography, video, and installation to examine communication and identity. Her practice is characterized by a rigorous conceptual framework that interrogates the relationship between the written word and the visual image.