LEIGH WELLS
I have been friends with Leigh Wells since 1989 while Leigh was working in the Graphics Design Group at Gensler, San Francisco. Our lives and work have collided in many ways and continued through her move to the east coast and back again to the west. Leigh is multi-dimensional and her talents as an astute visual artist continue to impress. Her work is meticulous and moving, as she constructs collage-drawings made of found images with painted accents and interventions. Leigh’s work has been exhibited here and abroad at galleries like Gregory Lind, Ampersand International Arts, and Gallery 16. She has been featured in prestigious magazines, Harper’s, The New York Times and Elle Decor. She is currently a visiting artist at Minnesota Street Project.
Laura Guido-Clark: WHEN I SAY THE WORD COLOR, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF?
Leigh Wells: A feeling in the body and brain when eyes take in a delicious color, or even better a skillfully combined palette of colors. Color can feel like an intense flavor or a beautiful sound.
LGC: CAN YOU SHARE A SIGNIFICANT COLOR MEMORY OR YOUR FIRST COLOR MEMORY?
LW: I think about using an orange crayon for my hair and freckles in childhood drawings, strange sets of favorite colors during different periods, an orange-y tomato red shirt I loved in grade school, and the pale butter yellow of my childhood kitchen.
LGC: HOW DO YOU USE COLOR FOR SELF-EXPRESSION?
LW: I feel like I use it for pleasure rather than expression. As Josef Albers said, “Juxtaposing two colors puts me in a state of intense excitement”! Reliable sources of pleasure in life are important, no?
JOSEPH ALBERS | 1995 Homage to the Square: Apparition . Oil on Masonite . Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
LGC: WHICH ONE OF YOUR SENSES, ASIDE FROM SIGHT, DO YOU MOST ASSOCIATE WITH COLOR?
LW: Taste, I suppose, but for me they are all so wonderfully separate and rich.
LGC: HOW DOES COLOR PLAY A ROLE IN YOUR WORK?
LW: Early on, I felt somewhat timid using color in my visual art. After using it with restraint as a graphic designer, becoming an illustrator at thirty made expansive use of color a necessary skill. Now, years later, I sometimes play a game with myself by choosing colors and combinations that make me uncomfortable. For example, the first step in my "Mind Reader" series was to deliberately paint most of the collage components in colors I either rarely used or outright disliked! The experiment changed my mind about each of them.
LEIGH WELLS | Testing in China | Cover of The New York Times' Week in Review for an essay describing a parent's experiences with academic testing of her children in Chinese and American schools.
LEIGH WELLS | Mind Reader, 2019, painted fabric, gouache, acrylic, and graphite on Arches paper
LGC: WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU SAW LATELY THAT WAS COLOR CAPTIVATING?
LW: Aged pages of french wallpaper. I collect color and pattern inspirations on Pinterest for reference. YUM!
LGC: WHO HAS HAD THE BIGGEST COLOR INFLUENCE ON YOU?
LW: My answer wouldn't be an individual, but rather the act of taking in lots of visual information from different periods (see link from response above). I love color palettes from contemporary modern interiors. Art Deco period decorative arts and packaging. Current illustration. Fashion and photography. Painters like Cy Twombly, Lesley Vance, Christine Streuli, Amy Sillman, Giorgio Morandi.
LGC: WHAT COLOR CHALLENGES DO YOU FACE?
LW: What? I don't see any challenges here, just pleasure, darling!
LGC: DO YOU HAVE A PHILOSOPHY YOU WORK BY?
LW: Always look toward greater pleasure and goodness in work, creativity, love, and life. Upping the dose in 2020!
Keep up with everything that Leigh is doing by following her inspiring Instagram