Artist Bio
www.leagoldman.com | www.leagoldman.blogspot.com
I am a full time painter and printmaker. My work is narrative in nature with close attention to abstract elements such as composition, texture, and form. My interest in multi-cultural traditions, legends and folklore evolved into a personal mythology, constantly developing, and expressed in an array of art images and materials. I earned an MA in Art and Education from Columbia University Teachers College, New York City, and MFA in Studio Arts from California State University Los Angeles. My prints and paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the country, have received many awards, were featured in numerous solo shows, as well as publications, magazines, and anthologies; my art works are included in the permanent collection of the Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart Indiana, and are incorporated The Lerner Theater Collection, curated by the Midwest Museum; I am asked by the Midwest Museum to participate in the upcoming invitational show in April 2016; six of my big paintings are a part of the South Bend Indiana Art Museum’s Sightlines Project, and my prints are included in the museum’s gallery.
Artist Statement
My paintings reflect concerns and challenges that we as human beings face in our daily life. They also depict dreams and fantasies we turn to when we need a respite from our actual surroundings. I use representational images to tell about all this. My stories are not linear extensions in time; they rather focus on one crucial moment. Whatever happened earlier and is about to happen in the future is open to interpretation.
I do not strive to present accurate academic depiction. I use imagery as needed, to describe my thoughts and day dreams.
The theatrical settings in the paintings are influenced in part by the figures and costumes of the European Comedia del Arte, an old established form of improvisational theater. This is to distance the situations from actual life occurrences and give the ideas a sort of universal meaning. Every experience that is described in the works is common; it can happen anytime, anywhere.
Even though the pictures deal sometimes with the problematic elements in our lives, the message is mostly positive. There is joy in the bright colors, swift movements, and humorous staging. With that I intend to say that whatever may occur, life is worth living.