Virginia Leonard
Red Bed, 2017,
Ceramic, lustre and resin,
1100 x 400 x 400mm
Virginia Leonard's evocative ceramics shift between alien landscapes and honest self-portraits, addressing her experiences of chronic pain and bodily scarring. "I have sought a voice for my own pain. These objects are my body".
In 1986, Virginia had a serious motorbike accident in London. This terrible accident put Leonard in hospital for two years, simultaneously impacting on her in a positive and negative way.
Following a successful painting career in New Zealand, Leonard started working with clay in 2013.
"The transition grew from my need to address my bodily issues. Clay became more visceral and bodily. It was oozy and clumpy. It resembled my scarred and jagged leg. It is also a precarious medium. You don't know if the work is going to survive the high temperatures of the kiln. This reminded me of the fragility of my body".
Leonard's original and innovative work in clay is driven by the tactile and material possibilities of clay for expressing and connecting with her body and chronic pain. Her most recent work involves stacking a number of pieces on top of one another.
She refers to this technique as "building precarious towers resembling my human form, layering the work and stacking the work also references surgery and the ability to hide my bodily scarring. The more I assemble the more there is to look at which takes the viewers eyes away from the ugly bits".
Leonard is interested in pushing the clay and glazes beyond their limits, which is a crucial part of her process, pushing the work to within an inch of cracking, splitting or collapse and breaking point.
With an innovative and experimental approach, Leonard tears, cuts, stacks and affixes additional extrusions to create texture and volume in her work. She is driven by the tactile and material possibilities of clay for expressing and connecting with her body.
The finished work accentuates and visually records each gesture and moment of her process. Referencing the Dadaist and Surrealist movements, the resulting aesthetic is like a three dimensional interpretation of a Max Ernst landscape painting. By juxtaposing the austere geometry of the steel plinth against the texturally lavish forms and sited in the context of the non-hierarchical native bush, Leonard explores the balance and dissonance between ornamental surfaces, objects and support systems.
More from this artist
Artist Bio
Born Auckland, New Zealand
Education
2001 Master of Fine Arts (First Class Honours), Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design, Auckland
1990 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design, Auckland
Upcoming
Group Show, Yusto/Giner, Madrid, Spain, June 2022; Australia Ceramic Triennale, Alice Springs, Australia, July 2022; Group Show, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, US, September 2022; Splash, Taste Contemporary, Basel, Switzerland, September 2022; Design Miami/Paris, Side Gallery, Paris, France, October 2022; Solo Exhibition, Hastings City Gallery, Hastings, New Zealand, November 2022
Selected Exhibitions
2022 - No One Will See Me Walk to Deny Me Grace, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand (solo); Exposed Material, Side Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (group); artgenève, Taste Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland (group); Sculpture on the Gulf, Waiheke Island, New Zealand; Group Exhibition, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand (group)
2021 - Sydney Contemporary, Gow Langsford Gallery & PAULNACHE, Sydney, Australia (group); Golden Legs and Other Bits, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, US, (solo); Distorted Duets, Taste Contemporary, La Fonderie Kugler, Geneva, Switzerland (group); miart, Taste Contemporary, Milan, Italy (group); Officine Saffi Award 4, Milan, Italy (Winner - Main Prize); Odd & Even, Maison Louis Carré, Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, France (group); Urns For Unwanted Limbs, PAULNACHE, Gisborne, NZ (solo); Full House, Artist-run exhibition, Auckland, NZ (group); Threshold, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland, NZ (group); Summer Exhibition, PAULNACHE, Gisborne, NZ (group)
2020 - Design Miami / Basel, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, US (group); Sydney Contemporary, Gow Langsford Gallery & PAULNACHE, Sydney, Australia (group); miart, Taste Contemporary, Milan, Italy, September 2020 (group); Breath Holder, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland, NZ (solo); Auckland Art Fair, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland, NZ (group); The Backbone of Things, Te Auaha, Wellington, NZ (group); Ladies Bits, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, US, (group); The Cook and Her Driver, Gertrude Glasshouse, Melbourne, Australia (Residency Exhibition)
2019 - Hot Mess, Bowerbank Ninow, Auckland, NZ, (group); Beau-laid, Masons Yard, St. James, London, UK (group); The Dowse Art Museum, Dirty Ceramics, Wellington, NZ (group); International Biennial of Contemporary Ceramics 2019, Geneva, Switzerland (group); Gloria, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney, Australia (solo); Sydney Contemporary, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney, Australia (group); Autumn Exhibition, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney, Australia (group); miart, Taste Contemporary, Milan, Italy (solo); Trans-Pacific Dialogue, NCECA, Minneapolis, Minnesota, US (group); National Treasures, Contemporary Ceramics from Australia and New Zealand, The Vivian, Matakana, New Zealand (group); Open to Art, Officine Saffi, Milan, Italy (group); artgenève, Taste Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland (group)
2018 - I Come Out Of Surgery Looking Golden; Virginia Leonard with Gretchen Albrecht, Two Rooms, Auckland, New Zealand (solo); It Only Hurts When I Bend, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, US (solo); All I Want is a Facelift, Objectspace, Auckland, New Zealand (solo); Melbourne Art Fair, PAULNACHE, Melbourne, Australia (solo); Auckland Art Fair, PAULNACHE, Auckland, New Zealand (solo); miart, Erastudio Apartment Gallery, Milan, Italy (group); Collective Design Fair, Mindy Solomon Gallery, New York, US (group); artgenève, Taste Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland (solo); Exodus, The Vivian, Matakana, New Zealand (group)
2017 - Pulse Art Fair, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami Beach, US (group); Installation Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney, Australia (solo); Galerie Wolfsen, Denmark (solo); Farvestralende Keramik, Guldagergaard, Denmark (solo); Village huha, PAULNACHE, Gisborne, New Zealand (group)
2016 - HANDBUILT made in clay, Two Rooms, Auckland, New Zealand (group); Christmas Time at Middlemore, Corbans Estate Arts Centre, Auckland, New Zealand (solo); Spring 1883, PAULNACHE, The Hotel Windsor, Melbourne, Australia (group); MUD, Galerie Wolfsen, Denmark (group); Graffiti Lounge, PAULNACHE, Gisborne, New Zealand (group)
2015 - Potters & Painters, The Vivian, Matakana, New Zealand (group)
Awards
2021 - Winner - Main Prize, Officine Saffi Award 4, Milan, Italy
2020 - First Runner-Up Wallace Art Awards, Auckland, New Zealand
2019 - Winner Artist-in-Residence Prize in Finland, Open to Art Ceramic Award, Officine Saffi, Milan, Italy
2018 - Finalist Wallace Art Awards, Auckland, New Zealand
2017 - Finalist Portage Ceramic Awards, Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Auckland; Finalist Wallace Art Awards, Auckland, New Zealand, Travelling Show
2016 - Finalist Wallace Art Awards, Auckland, New Zealand, Travelling Show; Finalist Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D Award, Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi - Whakatane Library and Exhibition Centre, Whakatane, New Zealand; Finalist Waiheke Small Sculpture Prize, Waiheke Art Gallery, Waiheke, New Zealand
2015 - Merit Award Portage Ceramic Awards, Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand; Finalist Wallace Art Awards, Auckland, New Zealand, Travelling Show; Finalist National Contemporary Art Award, Waikato Museum, Hamilton, New Zealand; Finalist Waiheke Small Sculpture Prize, Waiheke Art Gallery, Waiheke, New Zealand
2014 - Finalist Wallace Art Awards, Auckland, New Zealand, Travelling Show; Finalist Molly Morpeth Canaday Sculpture Award, Te kōputu a te whanga a Toi - Whakatane Library and Exhibition Centre, Whakatane, New Zealand; Finalist National Contemporary Art Award, Waikato Museum, Hamilton, New Zealand; Finalist Waiheke Small Sculpture Prize, Waiheke Art Gallery, Waiheke, New Zealand
Selected Public and Private Collections
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia; Musée Ariana, Geneva, Switzerland; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, Australia; Rigo-Saitta Collection, Geneva, Switzerland; James Wallace Arts Trust, Auckland, New Zealand; Bill Gautreaux Collection, Kansas, USA; Ann Tennenenbaum Collection, New York, USA; Girls Club Collection, Miami, USA
Residencies
Glass House/Stone House, Chenaud, France; Guldagergaard - International Ceramic Research Centre, Denmark
Publications
100 Sculptures of Tomorrow, Thames & Hudson; Ceramics Art + Perception #113; Ceramics New Zealand, Volume 1 issue 2, Essay by Kim Paton; The Journal of Australian Ceramics, Vol 57 No1, Essay by Anna Briers