Audrey Leshay

Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA, USA

Artist statement

My paintings consider an artifact’s existence in a world that does not yet exist; an object’s relevance can only be found in its afterlife. I am interested in the concept of time travel as a means to access imagery from this future world. The works present archeological, geological and psychological investigations of archival sciences. In my paintings I make visual predictions as to how organic and man-made detritus will be fossilized, but the works represent what happens after the earth sciences have their way. Many translations occur through an object’s lifespan as it shifts from a subject of intimate discovery to an institutionalized artifact. These translations beget loss and we are presented with fractured stories. A paradox emerges: the mystery intrinsic to our interest in artifacts is also what creates the frustrating grey area of history. This is what I paint: our endless effort to piece together a perpetually breaking glass, and our refusal to switch to plastic. I have always been interested in a museum’s ability to make miniatures of discovery- to illustrate the emotion and poetics of time felt alongside the proof of it. As a result, the works’ concentric compositions emulate museological displays. The paintings coat textured panels like a skin. Their rocky surfaces, when revealed through thin layers of earth-toned oil paint, mimic the qualities of a fossil or bone. The works are informed by sites of excavation: user-uploaded websites, scientific databases, and...

Artwork