Arts Thread

My name is Leigh (they/them), and I am an oil painter based in Baltimore, MD.In my current work, I create evocative and colorful group scenes, which explore contemporary night life. They are in thelineage of genre paintings, a historical tradition that seeks to capture what everyday life looks and feels like in the moment. I aim to create a deep feeling of "sonder" in my work, which is the awareness that everyone has a story (The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, John Koenig) I create scenes that encourage storytelling, but draw attention to the power and limitations of appearances.I use a wide variety of techniques to achieve this in each painting. I remove paint with rags and sandpaper; I create thin, atmospheric glazes with rollers, and add texture and detail with oil pastels. This diversity of mark reflects the wide range of experiences happening simultaneously within each scene. The obscured figures become empty vessels for the viewers' projections, and I want them to pay attention to the process of metabolizing and creating others through perception and interpretation.