Leisa Rich

Leisa Rich is an experimental artist who transforms the common and alternative in unique ways using fibre materials and processes, mixed and repurposed media, 3D printing, laser engraving, and AI. She is a fearless creative explorer.

Rich holds MFA, BFA, and B.Ed. Art degrees. She is featured in notable museums, galleries, books, and interviews. Rich has published a children’s book and a series of how-to art books.

Her work is in the permanent collections of Delta Airlines Inc., Hilton Hotels, Pro-Demnity Insurance, Emory Healthcare, the Dallas Museum of Art, private homes, and more. She is a recipient of distinguished fellowships and awards.

Rich moved back to her home country, Canada, in 2020 after living abroad for many years.


Artist Statement

I am an experimental artist who transforms common and alternative materials in unique ways. Utilizing a range of fiber techniques such as free motion embroidery, sewing, weaving, and tufting, alongside 3D printing, laser engraving, AI, and more, I create wall-hung artworks, dimensional sculptures, pseudo-Utopian environments that suspend reality, sensory refuges reminiscent of childhood safe spaces, and wearable sculptures used in theatrical performance. My interactive works often invite public engagement through touch. As a vegan, I imbue much of my work with environmental significance through the incorporation of recycled and vintage materials.

My journey as a fiber artist began in childhood during a long hospital stay, using tactile experiences for comfort during illnesses. Running a satin blanket edge through my fingers and Barbie doll clothes my mother made heightened my sense of touch, compensating for my lack of sound due to deafness.

Humans are in a constant and dynamic tension between stability and flux, order and chaos. Engaging in a creative dialogue with medium and method almost always leads me inward to the concept; conversely, sometimes the concept comes first, and I find the right material or technique that will help me fulfill the idea. My work is often an exercise in unforeseen outcomes… what will happen if I ____? What will happen if I use ____?

Society is almost constantly trying to fit each one of us into some sort of identifiable box, and very much so in the visual art arena. Because I have resisted this for most of my many, many years being a fiber artist, every artwork is a joy and a delight, an exercise in change and adaptation, layers peeled back, things joyfully added, until just right.


www.monaleisa.com