LEORA GESSER

Works on Paper, Print Making, Watercolour, Conte, Acrylic Ink, Pastel, Lichen

City: Grand Forks, British Columbia

Website: http://leoragesser.com

Artist Statement: stra·tig·ra·phy: the branch of geology concerned with the order and relative position of strata and their relationship to the geological time scale.

The term “stratigraphy” is primarily used by geologists and focuses on the study of rock layers to investigate what occurred historically in an area. In addition, the term is used by archaeologists to identify the contents of strata in order to create a picture of the human culture that lived during a particular time. It is in the intersection of these two meanings that I began my visual investigation for this body of work. I used these scientific concepts to drive a personal discovery of the relationship between the strata, time, boundaries, place and culture that can be found in the places that I have traveled. This exploration has culminated into an exhibition which uses two types of mediums that examines what has come before us and celebrates the beauty of the earth’s layers on which we metaphorically or physically stand.

Fossils, artifacts, and layers of strata representing events such as cooling, heating, flood, compression, drought, and human experience are captured by my brushstrokes and reinterpreted in the prints. Intertwined with the layers of paint in the paintings, I’ve applied tree lichen to each canvas. Used to symbolize my awe of Mother Nature, this lichen was gathered along the many trails through the foothills of the Kootenay Mountains in British Columbia where I hike. This modern and timeless natural material tethers me to my life practices and the strata that I bear witness to by walking upon it daily.

I see myself more an emotive historian rather than a landscape painter. I’ve taken artistic liberties with the locations that inspire me in order to draw us all closer to the fragility of our way of life. The elements of nature found above and under the ground loosely inform my work. While the entry point is the recognizable traces found in nature, the viewer does not have the same spatial orientation and recognizable boundaries that are most often seen in traditional western art and the playful depth perception means that realistic scale is of no consequence. The elements that excite me are in the harmony and chaos of the textures, shapes and colours found in a given space as well as the mosaic of the strata. This cacophony represents the complexity and fragility of our planet and reminds the viewer of what is at stake if this is lost.

My future, all of our future, is yet to be decided. “Stratigraphy” is dedicated to the richness and diversity that surrounds all of us in our natural world.

Biography: Leora Gesser (b. 1952 in Montreal) is a BC artist, retired college instructor, published researcher and academic. She has created theatre sets, designed and painted a cover for a published research book, and has shown in student exhibitions. She attended ACAD for four years (2003, 2008 - 2011) where she actively participated in the Painting and Drawing Department.

She works mainly with mixed media but enjoys collage, sculpture, and print making. Leora uses a process which includes photography, collage and painting.
In the last four years, she has exhibited her solo show “Boundaries” in five BC galleries. This work was meant to push viewers to see the unpredictability and uncertainty in their own landscapes and challenge their beliefs in the harmony and serenity found in the natural world around them. Victoria Strange wrote for The Revelstoke Current “Boundaries”... Large scale drawings using mixed media fill the intimate
space and present a cohesive and strong exhibit. The abstracted works push and pull between being active and alive, to having also a quiet harmony. The works are both beautiful and chaotic.

Her new exhibition entitled “Stratigraphy” explores the relationship between geological strata, time, place and culture. She creates landscapes that invite viewers into what appears, at first glance, to be unknown territory but at a closer glance exposes a narrative of symbols, layers and signs. The work is provocative and engaging.