DELIGHTFUL DREAMS

August 1 - November 1, 2021

Dab Art Co. is pleased to announce the online exclusive DELIGHTFUL DREAMS. A solo exhibition of paintings by Leah Kiser.

DELIGHTFUL DREAMS is a series of whimsical paintings that are created by Leah with the intention of bringing about a feeling of joy and wonder. Her goal through each of her eccentric paintings is to create an amusing visual for the viewer and take the focus of the seriousness that can get easily lost in artwork of this detail. This specific collection of paintings are just a few that she believes others will enjoy and appreciate for their playfulness and detail while still conveying a mood or story without words.

To create these paintings, Leah uses photographs or objects as visual references to help capture perspective, lighting, and form, while trying to maintain the life and spark of the original imagined idea. Her paintings are composed of realism often with intriguing background elements. This balance between realism and illustration leads Leah to variability and experimentation in her work and adds another dimension to her pieces.

More than anything, I simply offer good intentions to the world through my work. Art means something different depending on one's perspective, and in my humble understanding it is an attempt to draw attention to things we want to show one another, especially things that others might not ever consider, notice, or see. When successful, an artist creates a moving unforgettable experience for their audience. As a painter, I take the tactile visual experiences that excite me (often textures, color combinations, animal figures...) and I use them to dream up enticing ideas that I've never seen before (lately, off the wall ideas that make me laugh out loud). The paintings spark joyful reactions, so in addition to drawing attention to the beauty that I see in our world, I also want to share in an interactive way: irrelevant extraneous joy, fun, and play.

I paint slowly. I finish about 6-10 paintings each year. All of my original work comes signed and dated on the front. On the back, it is signed and dated with the title of the piece and stamped with my actual thumb print. It also comes with a printout of the story behind the painting.

I did not go to a renown art school, but I made the most of the experiences offered to me as a shy middle class midwestern girl. I graduated Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in Philosophy and Fine Art from Coe College in 2005. I was mentored by the art department chair, John Beckleman, and shared the Marvin Cone Prize for outstanding senior body of work. I spent a semester in New York and apprenticed to Sculptors Romelo Del Dio and Lee Tribe. While there, I went to many museums and performances and frequently drew at the art student's league and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Most recently and informally, I've received helpful guidance from my friend and master portrait painter Duffy Sheridan in Florence, Arizona.

-Leah Kiser