Leisa Rich
Zen Zone, 2023
Fosshape, light Variable. This view 10' x 10'
In the midst of chaos, I always make a place of peace to retreat to. Here, Su Halle of Canada performs at one of my solo shows.
Leisa Rich
Outraged Ferocity, 2023
New and reclaimed fabrics, thread, yarn, dyes 30” X 40” X 2”
Nature is angry.
Leisa Rich
Royal Retirement, 2023
New and reclaimed fabrics, thread, wood stretcher frame 36” X 48” X 2”
Save the bees.
Leisa Rich
Let’s Hear It For The Girls!, 2022
Recycled fabric & clothing; beads, thread, yarn 60” X 44” X 12” (includes space in between)
Leisa Rich
Existentialist Dread: Trepidation About Mutualism, 2023
Vintage, reclaimed and new textiles; dyes, acrylic, ribbon, thread 82” X 88” X 3”
In this tableau, there are two groups of deer. One "belongs" and one perceives "other" as not belonging. In this way, they represent humans, each species having a specific role to play in deciding fate: acceptance ie mutualism, or rejection ie cessation of existence. We all work together and uphold each other, or we die.
Leisa Rich
Endangered Cargo, 2023
Reclaimed textile, thread, fabric, vintage medical demo heart section, cording 80" X 52: X 18"
In this poignant sculptural work, nature's seen protecting the human heart; in the midst of the destruction they have wrought on the planet, and in a reverse of roles, nature becomes the steward of humans after their physical presence has been wiped out due to their own behaviors.
Leisa Rich
M(eat) You Tomorrow, 2022
New/recycled fabrics; vintage needlepoint, thread, dyes, wood, acrylic, PLA, found objects 82” X 112” X 15”
In 1987 I read the book, "Diet For A New America" and my eating habits and belief systems were forever changed. Since early homo sapiens fashioned tools to crack open an animal skull and extract its brain - providing high density nutrition - meat was fundamental to human evolution and agrarian community-building. A radical shift has been reshaping that narrative as environmental destruction, health issues, and questions of animal rights, have forced a social and personal reckoning upon us. The science of the future is NOW, with lab-grown meat - that IS exactly the animal, without the field and farm - from stem cells grown in bio-reactors, meaning that people can have their cake and eat it, too. "M(eat) You Tomorrow" traces the past and morphs it into the future. Using historic techniques - quilting, sewing, dyeing - along with current technologies of 3D printing and laser cutting, I visualize a new realty in which animals are no longer kept in cages.
Leisa Rich
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, 2021
Recycled, vintage textile, acrylic paint, dye, thread, fabric, vintage fabrics 66" X 80" X 3"
Father, Son and Holy Ghost feature a few of the deer that graze on my riverfront property. The reference to Catholicism is intentional; the gorgeous tapestries I stared at while in church during my childhood helped pass boring times there, and provided rich fantasies that whisked me away. In addition, as a vegetarian, I seek to protect animals from human predation. We call our farm land "The Safe Zone" and these deer are protected here.
Leisa Rich
In Hot Pursuit, 2022
Vinyl, fabric, thread, dye, acrylic paint 88" X 68" X 1"
Serendipity led my husband and I back to my home country Canada in 2020 after decades living in the U.S. and abroad, to a 97 year old farmhouse on Howe Island, near Kingston. The twinkling St. Lawrence River outside our door, deer, coyote, fox, birds, and quiet peace of this lovely land and water, were healing after the tumult of the political situation in the U.S., and a pandemic. Nature never ceases to heal in times of trouble, and it is to nature that Rich turns for her subject matter. Two coyote like to grandly occupy the hill outside my door, surveying the expanse for the beautiful, white-tailed deer that trek across my property. This is not a statement merely about the challenges of survival in the animal world, but also about the difficulties humans face.
Leisa Rich
Aftermath, 2019
Fosshape, resin, mixed media, thread, recycled detritus, acrylic, microbeads, flocking powder, fabrics Variable. This view 15' X 12' X 24'
aftermath *period immediately after a usually ruinous event, i.e. in the aftermath of war in the pink *in very good health and spirits. *blooming, flourishing, thriving, vigorous, strong, lusty, robust, fit, in excellent shape There are some of us who are survivors. Throw one catastrophe after another at us, and still we persist. Life has tossed many medical challenges at me, most recently, severe facial Melanoma. American author and motivational speaker Regina Brett said, “When you hear the word 'cancer,' it's as if someone took the game of Life and tossed it in the air. All the pieces go flying. The pieces land on a new board. Everything has shifted. You don't know where to start.” In between surgeries and recovery, I relied on getting into the studio to work as my healing force.