NADA New York 2022

Leigh Burton discovered clay only a short time ago and describes her work as deeply felt. She begins with a slab from which choppy shapes and narratives take form without any preconceived thought. Burton explains: “When I pick up clay I squeeze it and it starts becoming something. The becoming is the part I love, the fluidity of the moment, of meaning, that comes as I squeeze more; the quick act and gesture that arrives and evaporates. I like the intuitive instant decisions that change the piece. I like that the surfaces are suggestive and raw. Eye movements that focus and shift and focus and shift are compelling, and devise a meaning that never seems constant, logical or expressible in words but yet powerful. I hope that in my sculptures some of that movement remains from the transitory gestures that inform it.”

Tension defines Burton’s work. A tension of physicality as her works feel though they might tip over or pull apart as one is looking but just as important that of emotion. As her subjects reveal themselves to us we begin to realize the difficult positions portrayed in these works. In The Swimmer, 2021 Leigh is suggesting the idea of freedom in the title but by removing the “place” and having the swimmer’s head pressed against the ground Burton utterly eliminates the idea of weightlessness and freedom.