Leslie Koptcho:

Botanica Collectanea

March 5-28, 2024

NORMAL GALLERY HOURS: TUE - SUN, 12PM - 6PM

Leslie Koptcho is deeply inspired by the complexities and visual contradictions found in the natural world. Her prints range from richly textured, large-scale intaglios to those employing digital technology and microscopy in combination with traditional printmaking processes.

She focuses on metaphors for personal identity and boundaries—some fragile—that separate the outer world of appearance from the inner one of private, psychic complexity. By looking closely at her environs, she endeavors to strike chords of empathy for all living things and to hint modestly at mysteries that are hidden in plain view.

“All the works in this exhibition were inspired by botanical sources, historic herbals, and invasive plants specific to the Gulf Coast region. Some of the prints on display are part of a larger portfolio (in progress) that will be accompanied by botanical notes and personal observations, as well as paper samples made by hand from Louisiana’s invasive plants.

Intrigued by their dynamic forms and tenacity to survive, I have explored invasive plants as a subject, and as a renewable material resource for creating very unusual papers. To my knowledge, some of the plants have never been utilized to make paper.

The central goal of the project is to increase public awareness of the destructive effects of invasive plant species in Louisiana, which threaten our state’s biodiversity and unique sense of place. Preserving our flora and fauna is critical. Sam Hamilton, the former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service called invasive species ‘probably the single greatest threat to our country and our native wildlife.’ While this is very true, the notion of a migrated species requiring extinction evokes many ethical questions.” - Koptcho

Leslie Koptcho is a Professor at Louisiana State University where she teaches Printmaking, Papermaking, and Arts-of-the-Book. She holds a BFA from Temple University in the Tyler School of Art and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art.

This exhibition is presented alongside the latest works from Libby Johnson, Mary Jane Parker, and Brandon Surtain. All works from these artists are on view, free of charge, during regular gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m., Tue - Sun) from March 5 - 28, 2024.