1998 Artists at Connemara

1998 Artists at Connemara Conservancy

Marietta Patricia Leis's Connemara Conservancy Project is called "Equipoise."



Equipoise
Equipoise

Artist's Statement "Equipoise"

Architectural elements and forms are recurrent in my work. They are metaphors for humanity. My sculpture, "Guardian of the Meadow," a grouping of three post and lintels, is vigilantly protecting the sanctity of the Meadow at Connemara. People must maintain a balance with Nature. I built these vertical structures to link the land to the sky. As they lead viewers eyes to the clouds, may these viewers dream of lofty things. The portals are a gateway - a respite from our civilized ways, an entrance to a more natural, intuited place.

"Guardian of the Meadow" addresses the issue in my work of openings and closures. Of passing through, of risking, of solitude, of protection and violation. That there are three structures makes all of those possibilities threefold as well as demonstrating the human need to be interconnected to each other as well as to our surroundings.

The sculpture was constructed with tactile materials to signify a visceral content and evoke a sensory response. I believe our intellectual perceptions of reality are ephemeral. If a deeper, more primal place in us can be awakened, our responses will not be transient or negotiable, but knowing.

About the Artist

Marietta Patricia Leis lives in Corrales, New Mexico. Commenting on her work, Ms. Leis says: "My gradmother instilled in me the intrinsic reverence that I have for nature. As a child, I worked at her side in her gardens. I am drawn to reflect botanical and architechtural elements in my work. They are metaphors for nature and man and the fragility of that relationship.

Ms. Leis holds a BA from Antioch College and an MA/MFA in studio art from the Univerity of New Mexico. She has studied art at the University of California, LA, Otis/Parsons and Santa Monica Community College. Her diverse art career includes painting, drawing, printmaking and constructions. Her extensive exhibition record and a record of collections holding her works, as well as her awards and lectures, are documented in Who's Who in American Art (22nd Edition)

She has exhibited at the Museo Italo Americano, San Francisco: Montana State Unviersity - Billings; Pindar Gallery, Soho NYC; St. Johns College, Santa Fe; The Clymer Museum, Ellensburg, Washington; and the Holter Museum, Helena. Her work is in the permanent collections of hotels, unversities, health care conters, corporate headquarters and the State Capital Building in Santa Fe. A dedicated educator, Ms. Leis has developed and taought many workshops in art for the University of New Mexico.

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