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Leslie Atik

 

Discipline:  Fibers, Mixed Media

 

Training: BFA, Painting, Massachusetts College of Art; MFA, Fibers, Tyler School of Art; BA and MA, Spanish, UCLA 

 

Neighborhood: Havertown

 

Makes: Site-specific, text-based works, mixed media pieces, works on paper

 

Methods:  My recent pieces are drawn from a variety of texts, including my own writing, and are generated by patterns of grammar. My process always includes extensive research. I usually begin by choosing a text that interests me, and then explore different ways of marking the text, highlighting patterns of sounds, words, and other elements of grammar. There is a lot of handwork involved in the pieces.  

For some of them, I use hundreds of painted tags, each of which I paint individually, building up several layers of color on the paper and thread. I also spend considerable time on the handwriting of the text itself. If I am creating a site-specific work, I paint the wall directly to create a kind of chalkboard and then build up the surface with chalk, writing and erasing and rewriting the text numerous times. Next, I use the tags and map pins to mark the specific location of the selected elements of the text. In this way the text itself generates the final visual pattern. The works are erased at the conclusion of the exhibition. Their ephemeral nature is an important aspect of the pieces.

 

Most recently: I have just completed a Mid-Atlantic Long Term Health Care Artist Fellowship, during which I was fortunate to be able to work with wonderful partners from the Cliveden Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and students from the Anna L. Lingelbach School.  Our intergenerational piece is included in the exhibition Art Is Ageless presented by the Center for Emerging Visual Artists and NewCourtland now on view at the NewCourtland Education Center.  Earlier this year I participated in Fiber Philadelphia 2012. My work, along with that of Tara O’Brien, was featured in the exhibition Thread of Thought, curated by Amie Potsic at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists.

 

Next up: In addition to a long list of studio projects, I am looking for a space in which I can transform an entire room (or rooms) with a series of marked texts. I have also started a writing project, which will be another way for me to integrate my interests in language and textiles.

 

What inspires you?  Pattern, language, thread, textile traditions from around the world, reading, writing, teaching, weaving, and walking. The exciting works of other artists here in Philadelphia and the region.

 

What do you wish people will see or get out of your work?  I am always interested in the perspective that each viewer brings to the work and enjoy the far ranging conversations that it generates. I hope that the work will, in some way, inspire people to think about language and its inherent beauty.