About Leah Gore
Black tar, sackcloth burlap bags, dyed cotton cloth, sheets of plastic, household latex paint, strips of pine, and artists’ acrylic paint are intricately composed throughout my work. I want to challenge the idea of painting as sculpture.
Stitching together textiles, I leave traces of the process through burning, staining, and stretching the fabric and folds. Manipulating tar with my hands, pushing and pulling the thick, rich paste creates a third dimension reaching out into your space. Walking along yards of industrial plastic carefully dripping streams of black latex paint, I then fold and create layers of varying depths and shadow. The contradiction of apparent evidence of the human presence in a work set in the sterile environment of the gallery interests me. Together the scale and the use of familiar materials evoke an intimacy, allowing the viewer to come close and understand the processes.
The work of Alberto Burri, an Italian Abstract Expressionist artist who lived from 1915- 1995, influenced my conceptual approach to painting, and in particular, the utilization of form and space as a means for abstract experimentation. The Italian art movement of the 1960s, Arte Povera, inspired me to evoke strong cerebral emotions through found objects. I have interpreted these influences through the filter of my own family heritage and culture as a native of Appalachia. The titles communicate a protest of and dissatisfaction with the current political climate in light of the socio-economic divide that defines our region.
Biography
Multidisciplinary artist with a focus on ephemeral edible art working from Milton, West Virginia. With my background in both culinary art and the visual arts I’m able to blur the lines between sculpture and feast.
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Other Creative Skills
Other
Painting
