Leigh Craven

Leigh Craven earned her BFA in Printmaking from the College of Architecture, Art & Planning at Cornell University, her MFA in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design, and studied bookbinding with Peter Verheyen. She currently teaches in the Department of Art at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, and has been a visiting professor at various other institutions. Her work has been exhibited widely in group and solo exhibitions, earning her numerous honors and awards. She is represented by A.I.R. Gallery in New York City.

Statement:

Our relationships are complex. What we project to the outside world may not be the reality of our inside world. But each of us exposes clues about our life and our relationships with the look of an eye, the expression of our mouth, our body language. We each expose ourselves in ways we may not have realized. And simultaneously, we clothe ourselves in deceptive guises as means of protection. Portraiture opens the door to the sitter's personal space. It provides insight to the subjects' character and identity.

Much of the work in my portfolio focuses on my (subjective) reactions to individuals, often family and close friends. Currently, I have been creating mixed media boxes that incorporate both flat and three-dimensional imagery. I play with representation and narrative in attempt to create an image that is ambiguous in read; whose distance from reality or fantasy is indiscernible.