ARTIST STATEMENT
Wayne Leal creates bas relief sculptures, working with various materials such as nails, chopped rubber, bark, stone, sand, rope, etc. He will often incorporate heavy layers of plaster into these pieces or simply work with plaster alone. Either way, plaster remains a frequent key element in his work. He enjoys the random cracking that occurs during the drying process. Typically, his work is finished with layers of dark metal based paints (such as iron oxide) which induce a certain dualistic formality between paint and rugged surfaces. A final and critical element in his work is light - light falls upon his pieces creating highlights and shadows which emphasize the subtleties of his textures.
Wayne thrills at wandering organic and synthetic environments, continually discovering new examples of textural extremes. Cracks and crevasses. Texture & touch are vital concerns; surfaces such as the bark of a tree, a cracked sidewalk, a dry riverbed, a brick wall, her skin, fire his senses. Touch, tips of fingers, palms of hands are sensory eyes looking upon infinite, ever expanding universes.
His creative process involves a response to textured environments in a place of emotionally charged free expression which is then followed by a methodical, painstaking, self forgetting, refinement process of the initial "outburst," fueled by the desire that no edge or element should call attention to itself.
Wayne has no intentions of sending any deliberate messages in his work, it makes no statements. Some have labeled him a minimalist. He desires his own voice to be silent and hopes to leave room for viewer interpretation and inspiration.
Born in 1964, Wayne grew up in London, England, where he began his artistic training in the calculated process of technical drawing but gradually he transitioned toward fine arts, recognizing it as a place to exercise his ever growing desire to work expressively.
Wayne emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1980. And enrolled at The Maryland Institute College of Art. Founded in 1826, it is the oldest and one of the finest undergraduate and graduate fine arts college in the U.S.A. While at art college, Wayne studied under some of the most prominent & active fine artists in the country. Many notable artists also visited to conduct workshops and give presentations and lectures. Wayne also met & befriended many fellow students who went on to have successful art careers.
The calculations and investigations, the juxtapositions and synthesis of mediums, the physical exertion. New surfaces, textures, the euphoria of making, of process, hands deep in plaster, sand, paint, and anything and everything. Oversized, non-centric textural fields of monochromatic color.
Wayne Leal creates bas relief sculptures, working with various materials such as nails, chopped rubber, bark, stone, sand, rope, etc. He will often incorporate heavy layers of plaster into these pieces or simply work with plaster alone. Either way, plaster remains a frequent key element in his work. He enjoys the random cracking that occurs during the drying process. Typically, his work is finished with layers of dark metal based paints (such as iron oxide) which induce a certain dualistic formality between paint and rugged surfaces. A final and critical element in his work is light - light falls upon his pieces creating highlights and shadows which emphasize the subtleties of his textures.
Wayne thrills at wandering organic and synthetic environments, continually discovering new examples of textural extremes. Cracks and crevasses. Texture & touch are vital concerns; surfaces such as the bark of a tree, a cracked sidewalk, a dry riverbed, a brick wall, her skin, fire his senses. Touch, tips of fingers, palms of hands are sensory eyes looking upon infinite, ever expanding universes.
His creative process involves a response to textured environments in a place of emotionally charged free expression which is then followed by a methodical, painstaking, self forgetting, refinement process of the initial "outburst," fueled by the desire that no edge or element should call attention to itself.
Wayne has no intentions of sending any deliberate messages in his work, it makes no statements. Some have labeled him a minimalist. He desires his own voice to be silent and hopes to leave room for viewer interpretation and inspiration.
Born in 1964, Wayne grew up in London, England, where he began his artistic training in the calculated process of technical drawing but gradually he transitioned toward fine arts, recognizing it as a place to exercise his ever growing desire to work expressively.
Wayne emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1980. And enrolled at The Maryland Institute College of Art. Founded in 1826, it is the oldest and one of the finest undergraduate and graduate fine arts college in the U.S.A. While at art college, Wayne studied under some of the most prominent & active fine artists in the country. Many notable artists also visited to conduct workshops and give presentations and lectures. Wayne also met & befriended many fellow students who went on to have successful art careers.
The calculations and investigations, the juxtapositions and synthesis of mediums, the physical exertion. New surfaces, textures, the euphoria of making, of process, hands deep in plaster, sand, paint, and anything and everything. Oversized, non-centric textural fields of monochromatic color.