Jackie Leishman

Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA, USA

Artist statement

The world is collage to me. What happens at the edges and among the layers, where two different materials or ideas meet — that’s where I’m drawn. I have bins and bins of paper and scraps in my studio. It is important to my process that I not use virgin working materials but rather fragments of older work and found materials. Something from something. Beauty from ashes. It’s also important for me to show the sometimes-raw joints, the roughness of their coming together, to be candid about the process of layering and to leave the hand of the artist apparent. My current work explores the beauty found in tension, in nature and in our lives. Each piece is a unique essay into the natural environment, contrasting the violence and constant movement of water with the solid strength of an otherwise unyielding stone landscape. Each piece in the series begins by creating reverse drawings using printmaking ink to lay down the bones and structure of the image. The pieces then evolve and grow as collage elements are added. The series began after a trip to Yosemite National Park in the spring of 2017. I was overwhelmed by the dichotomy of the landscape and the effects of time. The all-encompassing noise of the waterfalls, the size of the boulders and the softness of the meadows are etched into my mind. Not only is the landscape etched into my mind but so is the duality of violence and peace, destruction and creation. These pieces are formal studies delving into the paradox of holding two...

Artwork