Details
| First Name | Astrid |
| Last Name | Leeson |
| Username | astridL |
| Website | |
| Region | Angus |
| Disciplines | Drawing, Painting |
| Themes | Environment, Landscape |
Statement
| Statement | A painter of places memories and feelings. I am a painter. And winning both a solo and a two person exhibition, has provided me with the opportunity to seriously reflect on the process of painting, or in truth, the process of my painting. To begin with there are no muses no instant inspirations, no easy route, rather the process my paintings demand is hard, work honesty, pain and joy. Real joy comes from emerging myself into the landscape and focusing on pushing paint around not necessarily to record what I just see but what I feel. The pain is evident when my brush, paint and brain fail to coordinate the way my heart needs. The joy is when pushing through these moments of discomfort, despair and disappointment and I can breathe again. The honesty and hard work, I believe, are self-evident. My work is founded on 1) The real need to paint/ process my experiences. 2) and the influences of philosophers Heidegger and Bachelard and the geographer Yi-fu Tuan. Heidegger saw our ‘very being’ as connected to place, and Bachelard saw the strong links between emotion and place. Yi-Tuan writes ‘if we think of space as that which allows movement, then place is pause; each pause in movement makes it possible for location to be transformed into place.’ He further suggests that our relationship with location is enriched by our experiences within that pause. In other words, the sights, smells sounds, the feel of a place, the history, the stories we tell, the connections we make with others are the essential elements required to transform a pause into something more meaningful than a convenient resting point. A continuing relationship, or bond, develops adding layers to layers some of which will instantly affect and influence our experiences while other will lie dormant in our unconscious until consciously required. This is the very essence of what I am trying to connect with in paint. Paintings are a personalised combination of what `I see and feel when wandering the Scotland, in doing this I am presenting open insights into who I am, what I believe, and what I do.
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Biography
| Biography | Based in Dundee, Astrid Leeson graduated from DJCAD, Dundee in 2009 BA (Fine Art) and in 2017 with an MFA Art and Humanities (Distinction). Leeson was selected for New Contemporaries (2010) and more recently as part of a curated exhibition from Gallery 201 in Kyoto Japan (2023). She has continued to show in various group shows and has had her paintings selected for various exhibitions in Scotland including RGI, RSA, SSA exhibitions- where she won a solo show at the Scottish Arts Club (March 2024) and more recently a solo show in Tatha Gallery (May 2025) and forthcoming to prson show at Graystone Gallery.
Her work can currently be found in Frames Gallery, Perth, House of Bruar Gallery, Blair Atholl, and at Eion Stewart’s in stonehaven. Leeson has work in several private collections in Scotland and America. She is one of the Directors of Creative Catalyst Scotland- Supporting young people into Creative Careers. She passionately believes that creativity impacts on all aspects of our lives and is essential in these times. Education: MFA Art and Humanities (Distinction) DJCAD Dundee University 2017 Significant Artistic Activity SSA 126th Annual Exhibition prizes – solo show -Tatha Gallery May 2025 two person show- Graystone Gallery Octiber 2025 Red – Curated group exhibition (curated by Gallery 201- Lada Wilson) Kyoto Japan 2023 SSA 130th Annual Exhibition. The Scottish Arts club Prize 2023 Highly Commended Meffan winter show 2015 RSA New Contemporaries (Edinburgh 2010) Stuart Prize, RSA New Contemporaries Edinburgh April 2010 Solo shows Reflected in Time. Tatha Gallery Newport-upon-Tay Nay 2025 Back on the Road Frames Gallery 2024 Walk, Pause, Paint Scottish Arts Club Edinburgh 2024 ‘Connecting’ Gallery 201, Strathkinness 2019 Wanderlust: Layers of Past and Paint The Meffan April 2019 Residencies Residency -Land -Wasps studios 6.2.23-21.2.23 Hospitalfield/Tottenham Hale London October 2018 Plein air paintings March 2021- till present. Various Group shows Art and Nature Collective Green Gallery, Dundee Botanic’s 2024-2025 Winter show Frames Gallery 2024 SSA 126th Annual Exhibition 2024 Outside in, Dundee June 2023 Accord Hospice Annual Art Exhibition July 2024-25 Red – Curated group exhibition (Gallery 201) Kyoto Japan 2023 SSA 130th Annual Exhibition 2022 SSA annual Exhibition, Edinburgh/Ayr. December 2022-2024 Meffan Winter Show, Forfar December 2022-2023 Eion Stewart, Stonehaven 2022-24 Artay, Perth. May 2021-2025 Borders Art Fair with WASPS. Kelso 2022 Frames Gallery, Perth 2021- 2024 Satellite, Alma. USA 2020 Borders Art Fair with WASPS 2020 Ways We Work, Dundee 2019 Resolute, Tatha Gallery 2019 Gallery 48 2018 BEUYS FUR ALLE, Ayr 2017 Masters show DJCAD 2017
http://astridleeson.co.uk https://www.instagram.com/astridleeson/ olo show: Connecting, Gallery 201, Strathkinness 2019 Residency: Hospitalfield/Tottenham Hale London October 2018 Various Group shows: |