WEBSITE
http://wayneleal.com
STATEMENT
Wayne Leal creates bas relief sculptures, working with various materials such as nails, chopped rubber, bark, stone, sand, rope, etc. He will often incorporate heavy layers of plaster into these pieces or simply work with plaster alone. Either way, plaster remains a frequent key element in his work. He enjoys the random cracking that occurs during the drying process. Typically, his work is finished with layers of dark metal based paints (such as iron oxide) which induce a certain dualistic formality between paint and rugged surfaces. A final and critical element in his work is light - light falls upon his pieces creating highlights and shadows which emphasize the subtleties of his textures.
Wayne thrills at wandering organic and synthetic environments, continually discovering new examples of textural extremes. Cracks and crevasses. Texture & touch are vital concerns; surfaces such as the bark of a tree, a cracked sidewalk, a dry riverbed, a brick wall, her skin, fire his senses. Touch, tips of fingers, palms of hands are sensory eyes looking upon infinite, ever expanding universes.
His creative process involves a response to textured environments in a place of emotionally charged free expression which is then followed by a methodical, painstaking, self forgetting, refinement process of the initial "outburst," fueled by the desire that no edge or element should call attention to itself.
Wayne has no intentions of sending any deliberate messages in his work, it makes no statements. Some have labeled him a minimalist. He desires his own voice to be silent and hopes to leave room for viewer interpretation and inspiration.
Born in 1964, Wayne grew up in London, England, where he began his artistic training in the calculated process of technical drawing but gradually he transitioned toward fine arts, recognizing it as a place to exercise his ever growing desire to work expressively.
Wayne emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1980. And enrolled at The Maryland Institute College of Art. Founded in 1826, it is the oldest and one of the finest undergraduate and graduate fine arts colleges in the U.S.A. While at art college, Wayne studied under some of the most prominent & active fine artists in the country. Many notable artists also visited to conduct workshops and give presentations and lectures. Wayne also met & befriended many fellow students who went on to have successful art careers.
BIO
MEDIA
Missouri Life Magazine - Columbia Visitors Bureau - Insert Article: "North Village"
Packingtown Review, Literary Journal - April, 2009 (Inaugural Issue) - Art Reproductions on Cover & Inner Pages
Columbia Missourian - Collaborative Art - January, 2009
Erraticus Art Zine - Artist Feature - October, 2008
KRCG TV News - Mid-Missouri Traveller - ArtCycles - May 2008
Columbia Tribune - Ovations - The Core of Orr - October, 2007
PS Gallery - Artist in the Spotlight - September, 2007
Columbia Missourian - Muse - Metropolitan Artist's Work Finds a Midwestern Home - August, 2007
PS Gallery - Writing On The Wall - July, 2007
Columbia Daily Tribune - Ovations - August, 2006
Columbia Art League - Columbia, Missouri - 47th Annual Juried Art Show Winner - July, 2006
The Baltimore Sun - New Factory Show - Summer, 1991
The York Dispatch - Please Touch - Summer, 1991
EXHIBITS - 2000's
Perlow Stevens Gallery - Columbia, Missouri - December, 2009
Orr Street Studios and Gallery - Columbia, Missouri - December, 2009
Perlow Stevens Gallery - Columbia, Missouri - July 2009
Orr Street Studios and Gallery - Columbia, Missouri - April 2009 - Seeing Visions - Guest Speaker
Xnihilo Gallery - Houston, Texas - April 2009
Columbia Art League - Members Show - Columbia, Missouri - December, 2008
Orr Street Studios and Gallery - Columbia, Missouri - December, 2008
Columbia Art League - 49th Annual Juried Art Show - Columbia, Missouri - September, 2008
Soho Myriad Art Consulting Services - Signed On As Represented Artist - September, 2008
Santa Fe Art - Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico - June 2008
ArtCycles - Public Art Fundraiser Commission - Columbia, Missouri - June 2008 - Collaboration Project with Chris Teeter, Sculptor
First Place - Peoples Choice Award
First Place - Commissioned Art Award
Missouri Theatre - Public Art Fundraiser Commission - Columbia, Missouri - May 2008 - Collaboration Project with Chris Teeter, Sculptor
VLAA, Business Edge Seminar - Guest Speaker, The Fine Art of Marketing - Orr Street Studios, Columbia, Missouri - March 2008
Perlow Stevens Gallery - Columbia, Missouri - July 2007
Xnihilo Gallery - Houston, Texas - April 2007
Columbia Art League - 47th Annual Juried Art Show - Columbia, Missouri - September, 2006
Received Bank Purchase Award from 650 Entrants
EXHIBITS - 1990's
Fitzgeralds Gallery - Baltimore, Maryland
1601 Art Views - Baltimore, Maryland
The Galerie et Ses Freres - Brooklandville, Maryland
Saxon Swan Gallery - Lewes Beach, Delaware
The Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute Gallery - Baltimore, Maryland
Maryland National Bank Corporate Headquaters - Baltimore, Maryland
The National Museum of Ceramic Art - Baltimore, Maryland
The Galery at 96 - York, Pennsylvania
Art Showcase Gallery - Baltimore, Maryland
The Keystone Gallery - Baltimore, Maryland
The New Factory Gallery - Baltimore, Maryland
The Bau-House Gallery - Baltimore, Maryland
The Offices of Governor William Shaefer - Baltimore, Maryland
York Art Association Gallery - York, Pennsylvania
Fota Gallery - Alexandria, Virginia
EXHIBITS & EDUCATION - 1980's
Maryland Institute College of Art, Bachelor of Fine Arts, 1982 - 1986
Maryland Institute College of Art Galleries - Various Individual & Group Shows During Tenure
University of Maryland, Videography / Printmaking - 1988 - 1990
University of Maryland Galleries - Various Individual & Group Shows During Tenure
