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CURATORS CHOICE
Leigh Witherell
Leigh Witherell, born in 1969 in Denver City, Texas, USA, is an emerging Figurative Impressionist visual artist currently based in Melbourne, Florida, USA. Working primarily with acrylic on canvas, Witherell is best known for her compelling ability to capture scenes of human emotion through contemporary compositions, often reflecting profound and intimate moments.
Witherell's work delves into authentic intimacy and the exploration of the most private moments of the human experience. Characterized by organic, earth-tone color palettes and dynamic brushwork, her paintings often evoke deep emotional and provocative responses. Significant projects include a series of works that portray the silent, powerful moments of interpersonal relationships and a series focused on parental grief spurred by her own personal tragedy in 2021. The latter experience triggered a seismic shift in her personal philosophy and life goals. This new personal drive has her attention tightly focused on creating artwork that celebrates love and encourages introspection about how we approach and interact with others on a societal and personal level.
Leigh Witherell has exhibited her work in several reputable venues, including the Las Laguna Art Gallery in Orange County, California, The Orlando Museum of Modern Art in Florida, Espacio CóMPLICES in Madrid, Spain, and the Eisele Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. She has also participated in the Buinho Creative Residency in Messejana, Portugal. Witherell's works are held in numerous private collections, attesting to her rising presence in contemporary art.
What are the primary concepts and focus of your art and how do these ideas relate to your
medium, and creative process itself?
The first concept is that I want my art to communicate a message, which can be simple or complex, and it may take a single piece or a collection to do it. The trick seems to be finding a way to send a message that can be reliably received by a variety of audiences. From there, conversation and maybe even debate can happen. The second concept is that I feel that I’ll always explore the emotional or human aspects of topics, even if the topic isn’t intuitively so.
For instance, in my recent works, I’m exploring topics related to sexuality, marriage and non-traditional relationships. From there, that could lead me to other topics like morality, which is richly controversial of course. My first deep exploration was the Invisibility Project, where I was surveying the grief of parents who have lost a child. In that one, brought on by my own loss of my daughter in 2021, I investigated my experience that a vacuum formed around me as many of my friends and even family pulled back from me after the memorial and related events were concluded. Maybe next I will investigate feminist or human rights issues. Whatever I do, these will likely continue to be emotional and human centered works.
What advice would you give to your past or future self?
Embrace authenticity. For some, this seems like a non-statement, but for others it’s a challenge. I have spent so many years of my own life trying to fit myself into molds that I was expected to fit into. Not that long ago I realized that the sensation of fitting in or conforming can be undetectable until you intentionally tune into it. It’s essential to just be you, and when you decide to effect change – to yourself or to your surroundings – do it for your own reasons. By contrast, not conforming for the sake of not conforming – think of certain adolescent mindsets – may seem desirable, attractive or even virtuous. I don’t believe that’s authentic.
When the audience sees such intuitive works as yours they are often immediately curious
about the environment the works are created in. What is the most indispensable item in your
studio and why can’t you live without it?
It’s a holographic light cube with my daughter’s photo in it. It sits on a prominent shelf in my studio right where I work. It’s indispensable to me simply because I feel a connection most strongly with my daughter in my studio. She told me for years I should “put my work out there” and I couldn’t muster the courage until after her death. In many ways, she is the reason I’m doing this now. I imagine that she’s watching my paintings come to life and that she’s right here doing this alongside me.
What is your dream project?
My dream project is a show dedicated to a cause that is very dear to my heart and one that our daughter believed in and was passionate about: domestic violence. I would like to help bring more light to this issue. All proceeds would go to organizations supporting victims. This is one piece called “Sisterhood: An exploration of strength and healing in Domestic Violence” that I recently donated to an organization in central Florida that I have worked with: Serene Harbor. It hangs in their boardroom currently.
Describe your studio/work space in three adjectives.
Comfortable, custom, homey
What do you wish to communicate to the audience and viewer?
At this moment, I feel that I have a lot to say about society today, specifically in terms of interpersonal relationships and morality. As an example, one of my collections will be challenging thought and assumptions surrounding “purity culture,” which is harmful yet common system of parenting and self-policing in evangelical denominations of Christianity. Two major audiences for me to address would be (first) those who either escaped it or are suffering trauma because of being raised within it and (second) those who are still embedded in it, maybe even raising their children in it today, and are unaware of the damage it can cause or the messaging against it.
Edgar Degas Is credited as saying “Art Is not what you see, but what you make others see.” However, using this purity project as a case in point, one of my struggles is to craft a message so it can be reliably or consistently received by both of those groups. For instance, any of the nudes can be received as I intend (art, beauty, freedom, boldness) with one group and be seen as gratuitous pornography by another group.
Is it possible to hit the balance? I simply don’t know yet. Either way, I feel that art should spur conversation that encourages mutual understanding, even if consensus remains elusive.
What is the last exhibition you saw that made an impression on you and why?
I was In Berlin for the closing of a show I participated in, and my brother and niece spent the last few days with us. My brother suggested that we see an exhibition called Body Worlds, and it was breathtaking. The display of actual donated human bodies are prepared using a process called “plastination.” The presentation is fascinating, the visual is initially surprising – they’re really human beings – and then uniquely educational. If the exhibition shows near you, I highly recommend it.
How does the studio environment influence the way you work?
I am most connected to my feelings when I’m at home and that helps my creativity flow naturally. Sometimes it’s necessary to get very emotional as I work, I can do that in the privacy of my studio. I can just be me. No airs. No pretense. No concern about who will walk through the door. Just me connecting with and leaning into the composition that I’m working on.
What trait do you most admire in a work of art? What trait do you most despise?
As you can see messaging is a big focus for me right now! My answer here will be two sides of the same coin. I enjoy when an artist elegantly, sometimes subtly, always expertly, conveys their message through their art. By contrast, art that shocks for the sake of attracting attention often feels like “swatting flies with a sledgehammer.” I suppose there are occasions for that sort of thing, but I appreciate sophistication and elegance, exhibiting mastery in the craft of messaging.
Which of your works stands out as a highlight, a favorite, or a significant point in your creative growth and development? and why?
My favorite piece so far is “Ghost of You”. This is the only piece I have done of my daughter, and it also marks a significant shift in my work. Painting this piece allowed me to further open up and let go of restrictions and boundaries I had carried for my entire life. It is the piece that I will probably never be able to let go of because it was so emotional to paint It.
The message for this piece is more for me and my family as we continue to process our grief together. For others, its to celebrate who she was. It was a part of my journey to realize the finality of her death (auto accident, sunny morning of April 2021) and the ending of her story. That painting was the piece where I would spend that time deeply analyzing my station as a mother. I also contemplated contrasts between being a mother to my relationships with others as a daughter, a wife, a sister, a neighbor, a friend. One specific facet of my analysis as a mother was that all the unanswered questions, things unsaid, and unresolved disagreements that would be left forever hanging. Of course, these are things many others have realized as they contemplate death in their own lives, but this was my exploration at my own time.
What kind of atmosphere do you prefer when you work? Do you listen to music or podcasts,
or do you prefer silence? Why?
In my home studio I sometimes have anywhere from low and somber music to high energy music to create the mood I need. My playlists are pretty eclectic across different genres, and I add to it constantly as I discover a song or artist or something is shared with me and I find it catchy.
Which artists are you inspired and influenced by?
I find a lot of inspiration by figurative artists like Jenny Saville, but I also love the Impressionists such as Degas and Monet. In fact, Monet’s “Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son” is the very first painting I was deeply fascinated with many years ago, so that specific piece holds a special place in my heart.
Can you tell us any memorable reactions you have you had to your work?
Really, viewers just spending time in front of one of my pieces and studying it is one of the greatest compliments I can think of. My large centerpiece from “The Invisibility Project”, entitled “We are the Story” is one piece where I’ve witnessed people studying. In that case, every face represents a parent that I interviewed that lost a child as I did. There’s a lot to explore there.
ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE ARTIST EXCLUSIVELY