@leahgonzalesart

leahgonzalesart.com

from the artist

I am interested in telling a story of the manifestation of when femininity becomes a monstrosity, and remain curious about what this absurdity looks like.

Oftentimes I explore this aesthetic while staying experimental and playful with mixed media, using ceramics, painting, and drawing. My creations are visions of stories of outlandish hybrid women, or, in turn, beasts that have morphed into a feminine monstrosity.

My hybrid femme-beast creations are accompanied by nature motifs that imply different symbolism based on my knowledge of natural history, pulling plant and animal histories from an array of cultures specific mostly to the southwest and my ancestors. I enjoy reading myths and learning magical realism through stories and applying this to my visual world, oftentimes re-working myths and fables to fit into the personal narrative of my life and identity.

Biography

Gonzales’ work has been exhibited primarily in the Los Angeles and New York region, and has won awards like Best in Show for her animation “In Loving Memory” (2016), as is a Grant Recipient from Cerf+ for her ceramic craft in 2021. Her work has been collected by collectors such as Milton Cohen of Baltimore, MD and Sandy Besser of Santa Fe, NM. Her largest installation to date was “Sauce Alley”, held in the catacombs of the Old Mint located in downtown San Francisco, CA, 2017. She also has two solo shows approaching next year at the Manitou Art Center and Auric Gallery Downtown.

Her work in community and education is important to her studio practice and career. Gonzales has worked to bring artwork and creative events to underserved communities throughout California through artist run spaces and collectives. She is an Adjunct Studio Art Professor at Santa Monica College, an art instructor at Bemis School of Fine Arts, and a part time art instructor at Coperni 3 here in COS. Her work in diversity has been through educating herself through coursework to equitize her classroom and center underserved students in the institution of the community college system.

Leah Gonzales holds an MFA from San Francisco Art Institute as a Diversity Scholar recipient from 2014-2017. She also holds a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art (2011) where she graduated Cum Laude. At MICA she was awarded an opportunity as a Honors student to live and study in Florence, Italy, at the Studio Art Center International in 2010.