LESLIE ELLIOTTSMITH : COUNTERWEIGHT

Leslie Elliottsmith, "Chasm," photographic pigment print on rag paper, 15.25 x 15.25 in.

 
 

SECOND WEDNESDAY OPENING RECEPTION: 03/13, 6 - 9 P.M.
artICULATE aRTIST tALK: sUNDAY, 03/10 AT 4 P.M.
 

Counterweight, Leslie Elliottsmith’s first BRG exhibition since being invited to join the gallery’s artist membership last Fall, includes more than a dozen layered compositions investigating personal space, environmental stewardship, or social expectations. Each piece might include as many as twenty-five layers with the composition changing and evolving as images are added, colored, shaded, or subtracted from the work.

Elliottsmith’s work is primarily concerned with the dichotomy of human creation and destruction within the natural world. Her work explores ideas related to how we have changed our environment and how we view ourselves through human objects of the past and natural surroundings.

Leslie Elliottsmith, "Sanctuary," photographic pigment print on rag paper, 19 x 16 in.

“Coming to photography from a background of painting, my compositions are developed from multi-layered photographs. I am always looking for the photographic bits that will create a composition using both a full frame infrared dedicated camera and a color camera.”

Trained as both a printmaker and painter, Elliottsmith employs techniques from both in her work, since 2010, as a photographer. Whether shooting on location or in the studio, instead of using her lens to capture a single moment in time, she chooses to invent scenes, combining multiple images to compel the viewer to suspend reality and investigate the imagery.

Raised in New Orleans, LA, Elliottsmith relocated to Alexandria, LA in 1983 to serve as the Education Curator for the Alexandria Museum of Art. Still calling Alexandria home today, she retired from teaching in 2015 having worked with the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts (Natchitoches, LA) for 25 years, and as an adjunct instructor for  Louisiana State University at Alexandria and Louisiana College.


This exhibition is presented alongside the latest works from Christopher Brumfield, Paul Dean, and Tom Richard. All works from these four artists are on view, free of charge, during normal gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m., Tue - Sun) through March 27, 2019.