Submitted by Carrie Leeb on
I make art to bring the feeling that I get from being outside, in the natural world, inside.
The paintings and sculptures I create are inspired by organic forms, science, and rhythms and patterns found in nature. My process is intuitve, leaving me open to the exhilaration of discovery. A common theme that surfaces in my work is a feeling of lightness and balance; a place of contemplation. The paintings and sculptures are calm, slow, quiet. Objects float. Lines meander. Color is either soft or minimal.
I am a scavenger, a seeker, a collector. During my daily walks in the natural world, my eyes are constantly on the lookout for ideas and objects to use in my work. Morning dew drops on a leaf. Rocks split in half by nature’s forces. Driftwood and stones lying on the beach. These are some of the things I use as fodder to create. Being in nature fills the deepest part of me. I feel alive - my senses heightened - yet at the same time, completely peaceful.
The tactile quality in my paintings and sculptures is achieved through a combination of deliberate experimentation, fortuitous accidents, and an understanding of the inherent qualities of the materials with which I work. Gravity, the resist between wax and water, the introduction of organic materials, and my own hand drawing, erasing or scratching back into the surface are some of the techniques used to create the range of textures found in the work. The excitement that comes from experimentation, exploration and discovery is one of the most salient reasons I’m drawn to create.
Consistent with compositions in nature whose quiet rhythms give pause, my paintings and sculptures aspire to evoke a similar response.