May, 2005 Exhibit

Leslie Kaufman: Sequoia

poem | statement | cv

May 6 through 30, 2005

"Roadside Attraction"

May, 2005 Exhibit: main page | statement | images | press release & cv

Sequoia

No anesthesia, just dignity when
they excised its gut.

Healthy tissue gouged, then discarded.
Fibrous scars framed the hole.
It grew around its surgery
- ancient survivor.

Stiff legs straddling
pockmarked asphalt
roadside attraction.

They approached,
boxy camera dangling.
She posed inside
smiled at him.
It was their honeymoon.

The tree embraced her
enfolding
then relinquished her to his arms
replacing the moment with the years.

When they cut into her
they scooped out the rot
too late
too little
hollow trunk collapsing
dissolving into the forest floor.

Leslie Kaufman

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Leslie Kaufman – Artist’s Statement

These works are part of a series of sculptures based on lines from a poem written when my mother passed away after succumbing to cancer. The poem is titled “Sequoia” and was inspired by a photograph my father had taken of my mother on their honeymoon, when she posed inside a giant redwood that had been hollowed out enough for a road to pass through it.

Written language acknowledges the connections between humans and trees with words like “trunk” and “limb” being common to both. The visual language of sculpture makes those same connections in a different way. The use of wood allows me to incorporate contrasting textures and forms, which serve as metaphors for many of the complexities and conflicts inherent within relationships in the physical world as well as the human world. Nature is transformed, but still reveals the fibers of which it consists.

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Leslie Kaufman - CV

933 N. Orianna Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Ph: 215.413.9126 Fax: 215.413.9137 email: lesliekaufman@verizon.net

ONE PERSON SHOW
2004- Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2004
Three Rivers Arts Festival, Pittsburgh Society of Sculptors, Pittsburgh, PA
“Monumental Micros”, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2003
“Faculty Show”, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ
“Chairs in the Air: A Circus”, Philadelphia, PA

2002
“On the Edge”, Long Beach Island Foundation for Arts and Sciences, Loveladies, NJ

2001
“Common Ground”, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA
Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA
“Nature and Human Nature”, Gallery 911 (4 person show), Philadelphia, PA

1999
“Common Ground”, Budapest Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
“Domestic Spaces”, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA

1998
Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ
“Sculptors’ Terrain”, Washington Square Washington, DC

1997
Artfront Partnership Philadelphia, PA
“Transferring Energy”, Washington Square, Washington, DC

1996
"Women's Work" - Rowan College of New Jersey, Glassboro, NJ

1995
"Artists of Northern Liberties", Paley Design Center, Philadelphia, PA

1994
"Pavilion Challenge Winner", Pavilion Galleries, Mt. Holly, NJ

1992
"The Pavilion Challenge", Pavilion Galleries, Mt. Holly, NJ

1992
Cigna Corporation (3 person invitational), Philadelphia, PA

1987
"Mix and Match", Pavilion Galleries, Mt. Holly, NJ

1985
"Philadelphia Panoramas", Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA

1984
York Art Association York, PA
Art Association of Harrisburg, 56th Annual Juried Show, Harrisburg, PA

1984, 1982
Audubon Artists Annual, National, New York, NY

1983
University City Arts League (3 person show), Philadelphia, PA

1982
National Academy of Design, 157th Annual, New York, NY

1980
Allied Artists of America, New York, NY
40th Annual Award Exhibition, Cheltenham Art Center, Philadelphia, PA

SELECTED AWARDS
1992 Award winner, Pavilion Galleries, Mt. Holly, NJ
1987 Prizewinner, Pavilion Galleries, Mt. Holly, NJ
1984 Second Prize for Sculpture, York Art Association York, PA
1983 First Prize for Sculpture, York Art Association York, PA

EDUCATION
1995 M.F.A. in Visual Art, Montpelier, VT
Vermont College, Norwich University
1976 M.Ed., M.A. in Counseling Psychology, New York, NY
Teachers College, Columbia University
1974 B.A. in English, Colgate University Hamilton, NY

EXPERIENCE
2002-present Adjunct professor, Art, The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ
1996-present Philadelphia Sculptors, President Philadelphia, PA
1987-present Sculpture Garden Director, Burlington County College Pemberton, NJ

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May, 2005 Exhibit: main page | statement | images | press release & cv