Leah Thiessen The wind was erratic
I have a deep affinity for the land, it‟s a place for
emersion, to experience and be absorbed.
My images are a direct emotional response to
the bush and mangroves that surround my home.
My paintings explore unique ways of capturing the
diversity of the natural terrain. I am interested in
local flora, protected plant species and weeds. I
often start my paintings with the small delicate
details found in the bush, and then depart to a place
of frantic energy.
My work taps into the emotional gravity of a
place, its memory, its pulse, its rawness and power.
They communicate a deep-felt relationship with the
earth, embodying a spirit of place and its
atmosphere.
For me the course of painting is a primal
impulse to mark. My paintings are process driven –
so it is only through the act of layering, scraping
back and drawing over that my paintings are
resolved.
„The sense of place... does indeed emerge from
the senses. The land, and even the spirit of the
place, can be experienced kinetically... as well as
visually... a place can be felt as an extension of the
body, especially the walking body, passing through
and becoming part of the landscape‟.
Lucy Lippard
www.leahthiessen.com.au