Artist’s Statement
I was born and raised in the middle of a Texas desert, dry, hot, brown and aridly ugly. The nearest ocean was 600 miles away. As kids we dreamed of tropical islands, pirate boats and sea creatures. Our primary mode of entertainment was the public pool or if we were lucky enough to get invited to the neighbor’s backyard pool. We would run barefoot across the 102 degrees, melting asphalt to dive full boor into a cool pool. Nothing changes your state of mind or mood like a beautiful blue swimming pool on a miserably hot day.

My work has come from these memories of summers spent leaping and diving, cannonballs and back flips, breath holding contests and looking up through chorine filtered sunlight daydreaming. In water, we become weightless, buoyant and free. I still seek this feeling, this vantage point. My retro photographs and pool pictures are painted over, with some parts remaining untouched. The underlying image serves as the memory. The paint on top serves as the emotion, the colors that we all have inside that adds to the memory. Together, they create a nostalgic version of the past I carry with me into the present. My water obsession extends into my monotype, linocut, copper etching and collagraph printmaking. It’s all about the water!
www.LeslieMorganArt.com

Portfolio: