Description

Leah Koury is known for creating interesting and detailed works in painting and collage forms.  This is an open edition framed as shown @33 1/2″  x 35 1/2″

Making art is key for me. It is my way of communicating personal vision using developed visual language. I approach my work in a non-traditional way. My academic background is in both two and three dimensions and I am currently walking the fine line that sometimes conjoins them. Ceramics started it. Transforming earth, water, fire and air into something expressive struck me as magical. And, over the years that process has had it’s way with me.

I love honesty in materials. This is certainly true in my past and present work. When possible, rust, fire, copper, graphite and other mark making tools and materials are used in their purest form. Copper, steel and bronze powders are left to present as themselves but are also transformed using chemical applications in the form of different patinas. These  materials and methods are my usual vehicles when painting and drawing.

Creating fills me with a sense of accomplishment and has proven valid for translating inner vision into outer reality. I paint from the inside out.
I became a full time working studio artist in 1979 just following the completion of my MFA degree from Southern Illinois University. I took an image from a dream that inspired my first large, controlled environmental sculpture utilizing the four basic earth elements. I felt that it was a great place to start and gave me the “world” of materials to use. This pictorial sequence is the re-creation of the “dream” as I was able to communicate it to the viewer. The translation and creation of the art is the objective for me. I want to share my vision with the viewer. You should see what I see if I am doing my job well.

Though I work deliberately, consciously employing both traditional and innovative techniques my subconscious and liminal thoughts are the undisputed project managers. I wrote my Graduate thesis on the process of liminal thought and how that small creative window delivers so many images when I am tuned in.

The concrete and repetitive nature of my work frees my imagination and provides the opportunity for inventive accidents in the studio. I find that experimenting and the willingness to fail has been beneficial in the processes and unique surfaces which I have created. There is no doubt that I work in an unorthodox way with materials and mediums. I have never followed the rules in that regard. This philosophy in the studio becomes more and more apparent the longer I work and the older I become.

I am fortunate to live on the amazingly beautiful Central Coast of California. Inspired by a sense of continuity in my surroundings and the inter-connected web between all things natural, I am working on many “series” currently. As you proceed into the site, you will notice how many bodies of work I have created. Although they appear very different from one another, they are all tied together utilizing this “common thread” I speak of.  The ever present natural continuity and patterns I witness in nature. I love working in the tradition of “series”  as it allows for one piece leading naturally into the next. Content is derived from a conceptual liminal thought where my hope is to give each new piece strength that the previous piece did not have. This is where I have allowed some imagery to take center stage but know it is the sum of the parts that becomes the work. It is all connected!