Stranger Days - Leslie Smith III

Stranger days explores the intimacy of observation. Once again, I’ve turned to the painting support itself for inspiration. Accepting the initial shaped canvas as the first formative gesture, I’ve looked to create subsequent gestures that amplify its presence. The addition of felt, as a juxtaposing support, allows a nuanced conversation between the rigidity of weave and weft and the irregularity and randomness of felted wool fibers. This conversation is steeped in notions of drawing, mark making and improvisational discovery. Therefore, paving the way for a more process-based approach to integrating illusionistic space and an embrace of perceived flatness. Stranger Days looks to challenge how we see what we see. This exhibition warrants long stares and quiet, intimate viewing. This was the space from which this work was conceived, in the latter half of 2020. Inherently introspective, this selection of paintings pause to acknowledge the fortification of daily rituals during times of intense uncertainty. I focused on allowing space for redefining the rules of making while concurrently experiencing deep shifts in our social-cultural and political identities. The individual works in this exhibition reference both internal and external forces. The likes of which we experience when trying to rationalize disbelief.

— Leslie Smith III, January 2022