Leigh Ann Mckinley

Most people in our society are so far removed from the natural world that we tend to walk around with our heads towards our phones, thoughts focused elsewhere, without noticing the intricacies of the plant life around us. Our eco system is complex, imaginative, full of life, and incomprehensible, yet our attention is so focused on the material world we’ve created that it is easy for us to live in a way which destroys the very planet that sustains us. I believe our insensitivity towards our natural world comes from a lack of appreciation and removal from the earth that once was central to the way of life of our ancestors. It was part of everyday survival to humans hundreds of years ago to work with the earth, grow the food, toil the land, observe the weather. Even their spirituality was rooted in the rhythms of the planet.

My work is an effort to reorient myself to the wonder that comes from observing the plant kingdom. By spending hours outside sketching, looking and then recreating these forms with ceramics, my appreciation is heightened to a level which transforms the way I exist in the world on a daily basis. Everything I build is hand-built with either stoneware or porcelain, with heavy focus on creating texture and an effort to capture a sense of majesty and reverence. By adding LED lights glowing from the inside of the sculptures, my hope is that it creates an aliveness to my plants, to show their essence, and their spirit, while also commenting on the reality that everything a human creates will always be artificial. People tend to be impressed when they see an intricate sculpture that is made by humans, yet they don’t experience the same awe when they walk by a plant growing from the earth which is even more of a miracle and mystery. My goal is for my work to create an experience that will transform the way the audience walks in the natural world once they leave the gallery space. What is the feeling of seeing a human made plant, lacking in perfection, then to see it so effortlessly growing right outside the door, flawless in its form? If we can experience the natural world in wondrous observation, I believe we would not live in a way that is so destructive to our planet.

Education

Graduated from The University of Georgia with a BFA in Ceramics