If you’ve wandered over to Third and Elm in the last few months you may have noticed that, on 2nd Saturdays, people throng to what were previously empty storefronts. They come because local artists have converted the storefronts to studio space, where they work, exhibit work, and host charming receptions.

Leah C. Dixon is renting the space located at 340 East 3rd Street, which she’s named Illuminoidal Arts. Last month she hosted an exhibition of work by Dave Van Patten but, for tomorrow, she will be sharing something near and dear to her heart: A project called TEMPLE that she’s been working on for more than 9 years.

“It began as an abstract animated video,” Leah explained, “but I also make prints out of the images from the video. It has a distinctive look, owing to a combination of radial symmetry, side to side symmetry, and the fractal imagery from plants. I take pictures of flowers and other plants and create these very meditative but stimulating spaces and textures. The video itself unfolds very slowly, no fast cuts.

“So, for the new show coming up, I will be presenting the original long- form video. I have shown it, recently, on a small LCD screen but this will be projected so that the video screen takes up a good portion of the front room.

“The prints for this project primarily fall into two categories: The TEMPLE Jewels, which are individual stills of a single moment, and the TEMPLE Time Tapestries, which show a grid of the individual moments, usually over time. The format is digital. The original seed of each image is from a photo, but that’s the last time a camera is used.”

Leah was experimenting with a number of digital arts techniques while working on her BFA at Pratt College.

“The process for TEMPLE addressed several things at once, both procedurally and also emotionally. Once I discovered how to make those images, it became a recurring place of both creative stimulation and emotional calm.

{loadposition latestlife}”My priorities as a digital artist were vastly different than the priorities of most of my peers, who either wanted to become web designers or animators for Pixar and DreamWorks. I was way more interested in abstraction, texture, and making a deep, meditative space that can be gazed into for a good long time without getting bored. Like a really good painting that one can look intently at for a long time. I also am a big fan of making imagery that other people can read different things into, sometimes things that are wildly different than how I might have imagined a given image.

“There’s a way to render things and layer imagery that isn’t entirely abstract, but doesn’t give everyone all the answers, either. It’s not so inscrutable as to be un-relateable, but it’s not obvious, like a big explodey Hollywood blockbuster.”

Since she began, the hardware and software tools have advanced considerably. This has sped up the process, and improved image quality, but the process is essentially the same.

“The possibility has opened up for a re-cast that goes to a finer level of detail. The main way that the work evolves is by making new ‘Jewel’ sequences, usually from new imagery, which I am always accumulating. There was a long period of time where I had time, money, and processing constraints that shelved some of my more ambitious goals with the projects.”

One of the challenges Leah’s faced is deciding if she should pair the video with music and, if so, what music to use.

“I have, in the past, paired it with harmonic overtone chant by David Hykes’ Harmonic Choir, as well as some experiments with some electronic musician friends of mine. I am still looking for the right combination to put with it permanently. That’s definitely a part of it that could stand to evolve more, but my skills in that area are limited, so progress is slowest there.”

In addition to the more abstract TEMPLE series, Leah has explored a variety of media and techniques.

{loadposition latestlife}”On the less abstracty side of the digital spectrum is all my digital photos. For a long time I made a tactical retreat from image-making and was only shooting photos. Then more recently I began shooting models for art photo pursuits. My friend Juan Sanchez Diaz and I have an on-again, off-again collaboration that we call Limitless Light. Those are photos of a staged installation tableau, with or without a model in full costume and makeup.

“I also have a large series of ‘digital paintings’ in which I usually begin from a digital photo and texturize (digitally) to take away the photographic nature of it. Some of these I make into the ‘fruit roll up’ prints, which are like an acrylic parchment that I have to make by hand. On the analog side, I’m mostly just working with liquid inks on watercolor paper. That process produces some of the most abstract of my various works, and it’s a nice release valve for when I’m just tired of looking at a computer.”

Like many artists, art making is integrated into daily life.

“I tend it like a garden. I have a number of projects in the ground at any given point. Some are early in their life cycles, some are advanced and ready to harvest and share. I might do nothing on a given day that relates directly to my work, or I might have several waves of productivity, but either way, I am usually thinking about projects long before I start working on them.

“A lot of times it is a process of waiting for the right moment, for the right set of circumstances, to carry a certain project forward. For example, I stopped doing digital painting once I reached an upper limit on the size I could conceivably compose for – a combination of hardware limitations both in the camera I had at the time as well as the computational power of my computer. I’ve just recently taken that up again since upgrading both my camera and my computer.

“I usually start my day with a long morning in relative solitude, unless I have an appointment or something pressing that takes me out early. It often resembles goofing off. Internet surfing, reading a novel, catching up on e-mail and Facebook, or playing a game. But even when I’m doing other things, often I’m pondering my projects, mulling over possibilities.

“As the day goes on the ideas start to percolate and by mid-afternoon is when I begin to hit my stride if I’m going to get anything done that day. Then it’s just a matter of riding the waves of productivity and inspiration. There’s definitely an element of improvisation to it at any given moment. Sometimes I have to set aside my art stuff to deal with life stuff, and that too is part of it.”

For Leah, art making is less about taking risks, and more about finding things that keep her from being bored.

“Some artists make very slight variations on what seems like the same exact work over and over again to the exclusion of all else, and while that has a certain instant recognition and commercial appeal, after a while I’m like ‘Yes? And? This again? What else you got?’ It’s hard to say where my boredom threshold is; I only know once I’ve crossed it and I’m antsy for something else.

“So with my work too, if what I’m working on starts to feel too boring or too pat I lose interest. If the colors or the layout aren’t working for me I just move onto something else. Eventually, I hit on something that makes me lean forward with excitement, and then I chase it to its conclusion or proliferate it until I am satisfied. Every single one of my recurring series – TEMPLE, my digital paintings, my liquid ink paintings, my various photo series – has been set down at least once, and so far, I’ve still been able to pick them all back up after that break and push them in new directions.”

Leah admits that, aside from holding down a conventional job – something she currently does not have – the biggest challenges to working as an artist are those things that disturb her ability to think deeply.

“That, and the issue of having the correct space. Lack of a decent work space, lack of having the means to even consider getting an external space just for my art, has been difficult throughout most of my life, which is why I’m so happy to have the studio at the ArtExchange.

“Anything that interferes with my ability to lure and attract my Muse into coming to play are generally minimized. Anything that entices her to come around is preserved and cultivated. For example, my muse likes (among other things): any kind of art supplies, raw materials, musical instruments, or other creative effects; comfortable places to sit; wine; cookies; and a view out a window.”

Leah’s studio, Illuminoidal Arts, will be open this Saturday, May 11th, from 7 to 11 PM, With TEMPLE screenings beginning at the top of each hour. While there, be sure to stop by the Free Store, and Margie Darrow’s studio, both right next door.

To learn more about Leah and her work, visit LeahCDixon.com. 

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