Sofia Leiby

Region: Midwest

My paintings address issues about the display and dissemination of art. Comprised of painting, screenprint, drawing, and collage, they rely heavily on process and reproduction. They involve photographic (through screenprint) and handcrafted (blind contour, peripheral gazing, or compromised vision) strategies to reproduce gestures and actions that take place in the studio. I opt for a horizontal mode of working, in which each piece generates the next, less complete than a “cover” or “riff” on another piece––an echo. Displayed in a series, while not necessarily entirely resembling one another, the pieces contain latent frameworks in which connections emerge. To augment this process, I photograph paintings in process and then screenprint these photographs into new pieces, attempting to capture the temporal quality of that exuberant moment in the studio, and to ensure that one phase of the painting persists beyond its life as an independent object. In this way, the paintings retain qualities of the virtual, the before-and-after that is implicit in the relationship between the present stage and “end” product.