Leisa Rich

 

www.monaleisa.com

I am a fiber artist working in 2D, 3D and installation format using free motion stitching as my primary method. In addition to my conceptual, non-functional works, I also make unique items for body and home for my Etsy shop and stores and gallery shops. I also teach at arts centers, run the after school art program at a private school in Atlanta and conduct workshops and arts events. I have been featured on the PBS artist special “IN CONTEXT”; featured in the books, “The Best of America Sculpture Artists and Artisans” Kennedy Publishing and “Quilt National 2009” Lark Books and exhibit locally, nationally and internationally. I hold MFA and BFA degrees in Fibers and a Bachelor of Education in Art.

Artist's Statement:  At age four, while in the hospital for deafness, my mother made Barbie doll clothes for me to dress my Barbie and Ken in. One dress in particular, made of a fiery red satin, provoked my infatuation with the tactile qualities inherent to textiles and fiber, and my interest in working 3 dimensionally.

I am involved with continuous exploration and development of the ways which man-made materials can be formed into work that references nature or natural systems and how, when I magnify these human-made “systems”, they form a new reality. This attempt is in response to my dissatisfaction with the impact of human behavior on the natural world. I am seeking to create a unique world of my own design, made from that I shun and that I embrace.

In my 3 dimensional and installation works, I address this by looking at items usually ignored: a small stone kicked aside while walking, a bit of broken glass, a fossil, a shard of twisted metal, a shell, leftover plastic, a microscopic cell. I transform those simple, ordinary objects into the extraordinary in order to give them greater significance. Using the power of scale—from minuscule to gargantuan—I portray and bring to notice an important essence I see in each object.

The 2 dimensional, somewhat Neo-Surrealist fiber pieces I am creating interject personal storytelling into a broad visual commentary on that dysfunctional society. My wall works at first glance might be likened to that of a painting - an initial impression of color and form -but the viewer of my work is usually confused by a texture unlike that in painting and is then sucked in for a closer look. I want that element of hidden surprise to grab, so that they are drawn in to my story.

Feminists might postulate that my use of fabric and the intricacy of the stitching in the works harks back to the days of quilting bees, when women shared stories, solved the problems of the day and bonded tightly as they worked with tiny stitch. As society has become more complex and humans increasingly disconnected from each other and from nature, artists like myself end up holed up alone, a stranded worker bee…transforming what I can, a bit at a time.

I live and teach in Atlanta, Georgia. I have been married for 24 years, have two beautiful daughters and I will soon become a grandmother for the first time!

"Amoeba Mushroom" Fiber Sculpture by Leisa Rich

Location:  Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.

Online shop:  richmade

Blog: monaleisa.posterous  
Other social media: Twitter

Memberships:  

   South East Fiber Art Alliance
   Surface Design Association
   American Craft Council

Languages spoken:  English 

"No Sense Crying Over Spilled Milk: Reason #2 LUST"
2D Fiber Art by Leisa Rich

Tags:  fiber, art quilt, embroidery, sculpture, stitching, quilt, 2D, 3D, installation, free motion stitching