Leslie Fry

Lives and works in Winooski, VT

Artist statement

My freedom comes from creating imaginary beings that live in a world of infinite possibilities. I work in my garden – a living theater for inanimate and animate bodies. Densely planted lavender, golden cosmos and quince grow among sculptures of sphinx sentinels, dryads, and watchful birdwomen. Within the tall-hedges benign female deities reign while goldfinches feed on sunflowers and humans drink coffee. Figures morph with animal, architecture, and vegetal forms; plants become bodies with fleshy petals and pods. Working with ancient processes, I feel connected to centuries of the hand-made. I model hybrid bodies with wax or clay. I either fire clay, or make molds and cast the sculptures into bronze or concrete. I choose materials that feel good in my hands; the malleability of earth clay, the melting and cooling of wax, creamy plaster turning solid, the weight and flow of bronze, the stony hardness of concrete. I’m devoted to intricate detail and complexity to make the imaginary feel real. For instance, I’ll blend the veiny texture of leaves seamlessly into many delicate hands that become hair on a head that sprouts a tiny columned Greek temple. I savor the surprise results from collaborating with the garden. The ever-changing compost pile gives me a stage to photograph cut-paper figures interacting with dahlias, peonies and smoke-tree leaves. I dig into its glorious rot and make forms to pour plaster into, resulting in rough earthy textures. Pruned branches and roots...

Artwork