#sparkchamber 101220 — Leslie Alfin
There is a natural connection between experience and the expression of it. Today, #sparkchamber is thrilled to welcome someone whose life and work are especially interconnected, visual artist Leslie Alfin. From a long line of creative people across many disciplines — visual artists, designers, scientists, entrepreneurs — Leslie never questioned that the path she would take in her life would draw on that legacy to support and develop her own version. “Throughout my career — even when making a living as a single mom was top of mind — I managed to find ways to integrate a level of creativity that satisfied that itch.”
Recently, Leslie is back to a full-time studio practice after taking a 7-year hiatus from her primary career as a working artist — time spent in London, applying her skills as a creative thinker to innovative solutions for social change. She ran a social business incubator for ex-offenders, creating opportunities for young adults to apply the business experience they acquired within gang organizations or as street entrepreneurs to their own “legitimate” operations.
Her work in London dovetails with the visual expression of her artwork. From her website:
“Historically, my work explored the impacts of boundary breaches caused by technology-based information delivery systems and the resulting barrage of information on our everyday lives. Specifically, the erosion of tangible and intangible boundaries and the devolution of personal and public trust in the substance/viability of truth as a singular measure of reality.
Recently, I have begun to explore more literal contradictions presented by the use of physical boundaries [walls] as paradoxical metaphors for current socio-political ideologies [e.g., build walls to achieve freedom from this or that] and the use of “walls” to confine/separate/lockdown perceived threats [are “we” locked in or are “they/it” locked out?]. Ironic in that walls have been employed for millennia not only as boundaries, but as delivery systems for the communication and documentation of ideas, history, identity, ideologies, art, and dissent that are typically associated with perceived “freedoms” rather than the restrictions that walls inherently imply. The choice of painting as medium is meaningful as paintings can be seen as either a metaphorical “wall” or “window” driven by the individual viewer’s perspective.“
Timely, relevant, and a meaningful driver for her work. “Now I am at a time in my life when I can focus 100% on the thing that nourishes me the most — making art that is inspired by the consequential topics of the day, and the process that translates, transforms, and proposes unique perspectives.”
See more of Leslie’s work on Instagram.
1.] Where do ideas come from?
Everywhere.
2.] What is the itch you are scratching?
I think if you ask any serious art maker of whatever discipline — and I do not refer only to those who have achieved commercial success — they would say that we have no choice. We have to scratch this itch because of how we are made. It might sound dramatic, but it is also true.
3.] Early bird or night owl? Tortoise or hare?
I work every weekday like it’s a job. I spend a minimum of 5-6 hours a day in the studio and it is rare that I miss a day. I think people often think that making art is easy. If you've ever been to art school, you would know better. I believe it is the hardest thing I've ever done [and frankly for anyone who attempts it] because we not only have to understand and learn the practice, but we also have to learn and understand what we are about as a person and contributor. It goes far deeper than a traditional academic education. So its darned hard work that requires discipline, commitment, and that itch I mentioned earlier. For me it’s not a matter of “getting into” working in my studio — that is me. I have a harder time “getting into” the rest of my life.
4.] How do you know when you are done?
The work tells you.
