ARTIST STATEMENT LESLIE PIERCE
I am an artist motivated by contemporary culture and the rapid pace at which we continually absorb information and images. Code Defied, focuses on how visual information hits our retinas and how images are reduced, rearranged, and interpreted by thought. If something is left out of a story or an image, our brains automatically fill in the rest. This filling-in-the-gaps-response is an interesting area to think about visually, as in how each person perceives images differently, so too is the way we fill in the gaps and negative spaces.
I arrived at the series after a few years of experimenting with figurative work and playing with contrasts of flat and modeled areas. Then one day my printer ran out of ink and left skipping color bands across the page. The image presented was both abstract and figurative and reflected life in our world right now: fast-paced, technology-driven, fragmented, mysterious, and captivating.
From there, I began distilling photo references- most of which I have taken, into vertical lines of paint. Form and value seem to be ironed out, while simultaneously standing up in space. Beneath the surface appeal, I am examining ideas on social fragmentation and coding systems. These concepts are contrasted in luscious palettes of ice cream colors that flourish in slice of life contemporary scenes. See Exhibition history and Bibliography here. CV
Artist BIO
Leslie Pierce is a contemporary artist, known for art that focuses on themes involving coding systems, documentation, fragmentation and technology. Her ongoing series, "Code Defied" (2013- ), evolved from contrasting flattened and modeled forms of the human figure. While printing reference images, her printer ran out of ink and printed striations of color and fragmented parts of an image. This lead to an a-ha moment. The traditional way of painting is changed as Pierce employs vertical lines to generate value, form, space, time and place. Form and value seem to be ironed out, while simultaneously standing up, suspended in time.
Born in New York, Leslie spent part of her childhood behind the scenes of the Museum of Natural History where her father worked as a scientist. Mesmerized by the T-Rex bones and dinosaur exhibits and the life- sized dioramas, these early experiences influenced her adventurous spirit and formed her love for art and artifacts. Pierce relocated to Austin, Texas to attend The University of Texas at Austin. She holds two art degrees.
While living in Austin, Texas she organized and curated group art exhibits, taught Painting and Drawing for the Austin Museum of Art’s Art School, and founded and hosted a popular all- male model Life Drawing and Painting group for Austin Visual Arts Association in which she was a member.
Ms. Pierce relocated from Austin to San Diego, California in 2014 and opened a studio gallery in Arts District Liberty Station. She continued her work on the series, “Code, Defied”. She is now selling her work internationally.
Ms. Pierce is honored to have one of her pieces in the permanent collection of The Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin, and has been awarded multiple Special Projects grants in Austin and San Diego to expand her work.
Contact: leslie@artistlesliepierce.com
www.artistlesliepiercestudio.com
www.andsomethingdifferent.com