Biography | Artwork

 

Leigh Pearson is a painter who lives and works in Byron Bay.  She began painting at the age of 38, after spending a number of years on the home front, raising a family of five children whilst running a business, designing and producing childrens wear. Leigh is committed to her work, continually striving to move forward into new territory and to embrace discomfort and the change that precipitates.  She sees her art education and development as a lifelong process. Though mainly self-taught, Leigh has attended a number of workshops with a range of tutors both locally and overseas. Despite her great love of working in oil paint on canvas, she is always keen to experiment with different materials and techniques, most recently working with found and recycled materials. Leigh's work is mostly figurative, arising from a fascination with the human race and the interactions and rituals that form the framework of our lives. Her paintings have proven to be very popular, selling to collectors throughout Australia and internationally.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT    Ab Imo Pectore - Love Stories from Byron Bay   These paintings explore attraction - the invisible pull that draws two beings together, the energy in the space between those beings - whether teapot and cup, or, in the case of these works, lovers, would-be lovers.  There is something dangerous in these liaisons.  There is a tension, a drama, kinetic energy, potential heartbreak. I am intrigued by the nature of the attractions and connections. They defy logic. I paint what can be felt but cannot be explained by logic. I want to capture the essence of those feelings rather than describing the event itself. The lovers inhabit their own world.

 

---

2010 Ab Imo Pectore - Love Stories from Byron Bay, Solo show, 19 KAREN Contemporary Artspace

2009 Byron Fine Art Gallery March 6 (Group Exhibition)
2009 Art Piece Gallery April 2009 (Group Exhibition)
2008 Byron Fine Art Gallery February
2006 Byron Fine Art Gallery June
2005 Libby Edwards Gallery Sydney October (Group exhibition)
2005 Libby Edwards Gallery Brisbane May (Group exhibition)
2003 Byron Fine Art Gallery April
2002 Byron Fine Art Gallery September

 

 

I paint what I am compelled to paint.  My subjects choose me.  Their stories unfold, revealing and concealing different facets of themselves as the painting emerges on the canvas.  Sometimes I feel like an observer, other times a facilitator.  By the time I complete a painting, I feel an intimate connection with the beings in my canvases, seeing them through their many moods and incarnations; we suffer and struggle together, united in our quest for resolution. In this way, my works emerge from the subconscious.  I may begin with an idea, but that is invariably subsumed.  Each work is directly informed by its predecessor. Thus, the story emerges, developing and morphing from piece to piece.  I work quickly until I have resolved the composition, painting, drawing, painting, erasing and painting again, layer upon layer.  It is only upon completion of a painting that I make a critical analysis, occasionally finding myself confounded and intrigued by what has emerged. These paintings explore attraction - the invisible pull that draws two beings together, the energy in the space between those beings - whether teapot and cup, or, in the case of these works, lovers, would-be lovers.   There is something dangerous in these liaisons.  There is a tension, a drama, kinetic energy, potential heartbreak.  I am intrigued by the nature of the attractions and connections.  They defy logic.   I paint what can be felt but cannot be explained by logic.  I want to capture the essence of those feelings rather than describing the event itself.
 
The lovers inhabit their own world. The 'landscape' in the paintings belongs to another world - a parallel world? A dream, perhaps?  While the troubled skies may belong to another world, they seem to reflect something of the mood in the lovers' world.  The tie, collar and cuff in my paintings are symbols of the working man - the tie perhaps a little intrusive, stridently making its presence felt. The woman, however, frequently appears naked, her vulnerability evident.  She is often incomplete, dissolving, unable for some reason to be fully available. 
 
Other symbols - parts of wedding vows, Latin words, hands and haloes appear and disappear, often becoming obscured under new layers of paint.  Though perhaps not visible, their presence is felt.  They are an integral part of the story in the same way that our own personal histories are of ours.  Recently acutely aware of the finite nature of life, I see that each and every event in our lives is constrained by time. The clock is always ticking.  Didactic, it controls our lives.  Clocks appear and disappear in my works.  Often only fragments remain, numbers here and there - ever-present reminders of our mortality.  My lovers play out their roles,  their own mortality  both a catalyst and a conscience.