Exhibition - Moonlit: Ink Drawings & Thread Paintings

OPENING RECEPTION First Friday July 7th, 6 – 8 p.m.
Regitz Gallery at The Ware Center, 42 N. Prince St., Lancaster, PA, 17603
exhibition continues through July 28, 2017

Moonlit is my first exhibition in Lancaster City, since the closing of Sunshine Art + Design. For this show I created a new body of work drawing from memories of summer nights spent along lakeshores, looking up at the Milky Way from the wooded forests of Wisconsin. Many of the pieces include an image of the moon set in a dreamlike or fantastic landscape. The places in these images are not real, but hopefully will feel familiar to viewers.

Archival prints available for purchase.

The ink drawings and embroidered thread paintings in the show are often set at night, and are, with the exception of one or two pieces, created with a limited color palate, mostly black, white, and a range of gray and neutral hues. Since I often work with vibrant colors, I enjoyed the challenge of creating work with a tonal palette. The idea of working in this limited palette began with my Inktober adventure last fall.

Exhibition - University City Arts League

Several of my thread paintings were included in a recent exhibition at University City Arts League in Philadelphia. High in Fiber, co-curated by Zoe Cohen and Yvonne Lung, featured several artists whose work explores the intersection of painting and textile. My work was hung next to an ethereal and intriguing dyed-silk wall installation by Matt Jacobs. 

Thread Paintings next to installation by Matt Jacobs at UCAL

InkTober 2016

Last month I joined my brother, Drew, in committing to making lots of drawings with ink. InkTober is a challenge to make one drawing per day, for the entire month of October, based on a set of prompts. Artists across the world participate. The process was a reminder of how creative freedom exists within limitations. For each drawing I used white 10" x 10" paper, black and white ink. Using these simple materials was a relief. When I sat down to draw, I could build on the mark-making vocabulary from the previous day. I found a repetition in theme, here is a list I wrote about half way through the month; ink-wash blobs, water, moon, seashells, waves, rocks, mountains, faces, leaves, repetition, pattern, sleep, eyes. I shared my drawings on Instagram as I completed each one, and it was fun to see people's reactions. Here are a few of my favorites and the word that prompted each image. 

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tree

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transport

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flight

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lost

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big

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city

The original goal of InkTober was to make lots of drawings and have fun, however, due to several requests, I have fine art quality prints available of each of the above 5 images. The prints are 10 x 10 inches on archival paper. Prints are $45 each. If you order two or more, they are $35 each. To order, email heidileitzke@gmail.com with title of the print you would like. Payment by check or PayPal.

If there is a different image you are interested in purchasing, the original may still be available!

Art in Embassies

When I was originally contacted by a curator, asking if I wanted to participate in the U.S. State Department's Art in Embassies program, in Mbabane, Africa, I thought perhaps it was a scam. However, I am happy to report that Art is Embassies is in fact an amazing program dedicated to "cross-cultural dialogue and understanding through the visual arts and dynamic artist exchange." It was imagined and initiated by the Museum of Modern Art in the early 50s, and realized as a diplomatic initiative by President John F. Kennedy in 1963. My piece Susquehanna Isle, is part of the current Art in Embassies exhibition at the United States Embassy in Mbabane as part of a long tradition of art as cross-cultural conversation starter. I like to think that my piece also works as a touchstone to home for the ambassador. 

Review: A national aesthetic

Three of my thread paintings were selected by Hrag Vartanian, cofounder and editor-in-chief of Hyperallergic for inclusion in the 58th Chautauqua Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Art, June 28 - July 20, 2015.

Susquehanna Isle, 2015, embroidery and acrylic on linen, 10 x 15 inches

The show was reviewed by Anthony Bannon, executive director of the Burchfield Penney Art Center at SUNY Buffalo State.

"Heidi Leitzke, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, makes islands of fabric, stitchery of many colors, threads that become trees, and bushes upon dyed linen, with applied paint, tiny things, jewel ideas, self-contained, that favorite island of the mind. She received the Harold Anderson Award for “Susquehanna Isle.”

To read the entire article visit The Chautauquan Daily.

Inquiry

I recently found this long-lost installation shot of my paintings, as part of Inquiry: Five Painting Practices. Curated by Mark Brosseau at Gross McCleaf Gallery in 2008. The show was written about in the Philadelphia City Paper,

"Heidi Leitzke's lush paintings present recognizable organic forms that are transformed into fantastic visions of colorful sensuality."

The exhibition also featured the work of Rachel Wren, Jenny Hager, Chris Burnside and Susan Ziegler.