Leandra Spangler
biography |
portfolio | artists listing
b. 1951, Lawrence, Kansas
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Boone County Historical Society Museum, Columbia, MO
Governor's Mansion, Missouri Mansion Preservation Inc., Jefferson City, MO
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2006 Shape Shifters, Spiva Art Center, Joblin MO
Woven Myths: Contemporary Basketry, Sabbatini Gallery, Topeka, KS
Leandra Spangler& Rimas Visgirda, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO
Re:Visions, Fontbonne University Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2005 Fiber, Paper, Glass: Hand & Breath, CityArts, Wichita, KS
All Things Considered 3, North Tahoe Arts Gallery, Lake Tahoe, CA
Tribute to Fiber, Apex Gallery, Washington, DC
New Blood, Finer Things Gallery, Nashville, TN
2004 Trail Mix, Handweavers Guild of America's Convergence, Denver, CO
Don't Fence me In, Handweavers Guild of America's Convergence, Denver, CO
Traditional Craft- Contemporary Art,New Hampshire Institute of Art, Manchester, NH
2003 Baskets Now, National Basketry Organization, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY
Needle, Loom, Brush: A Patchwork of Fiber, St. Louis Artists Guild, St. Louis, MO
Fiber Focus, Art St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
2002-04, 06 Contemporary Baskets, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2002 Other Materials/Other Forms: Exploring Contemporary Baskery,
Brookfield Craft Center, Brookfield, CT
All Things Considered II, National Basketry Organization Biennial Conference,
Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM
Baskets Now: USA, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
2001 Contemporary Baskets, Juried exhibition, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ
Wichita National 2001, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS
Fiberart International, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
Fine Fiber: Art for the 21st Century, Hinsdale Center for the Arts, Hinsdale, IL
Woven Constructions, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO
Small Expressions, Handweavers Guild of America, Inc., St. Louis Artists Guild, St. Louis, MO
Instructor's View, Midwest Handweavers Conference, University of Illinois, Edwardsville, IL
2000 On & Off the Wall, Ponca City Art Association, Ponca City, OK
Made in Missouri: Fine Craft by Missouri Artists, Craft Alliance,St. Louis, MO
1999 Fiber Focus '99, Art St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Wichita National 1999, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS
All Things Considered, Handweavers Guild of America, Inc., Arrowtmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
Contemporary Crafts, Kirkland Art Center, Clinton, NY
1998 Surface: New Form/New Function, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts,
Gatlinburg, TN
Material World, Spiritual Culture, A Fiber Invitational, Brady Commons
Gallery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Woman: In the Broader Sense, St. Louis Artist' Guild, St. Louis, MO
1997 Fiber Art: National Contemporary Expression, for the Visual Arts, Philadelphia, PA
1996 "Best of Missouri Hands" Award, Missouri Artisans Association
1995 Fiber Focus, Art St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
1994 Materials: Hard and Soft, Center for the Visual Arts, Denton, TX
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
I am intrigued by the way light falls on a surface creating highlights and subtle variations of shadow. To make the variations on the paper surface, I press found objects into newly formed sheets of cotton handmade paper. When the surface is lighted, these impressions create areas of shadow and raised areas catch the light. I am drawn to items others overlook or discard. I love the challenge of incorporating these treasures into my work.
My process involves layering: interlaced reed creates the vessel form; textured paper made by hand prduces a skin-like surface; color or graphite seals and enhances the surface; found treasures, beads and small bits of glass embellish the form.
ABOUT THE WORK
One Hundred Hands Clapping
A platter of uneaten crayfish was being discarded. I was attracted to the beautiful color and form of the claws and to have so many of them, one hundred in all, was a special thrill. Over three months, I carefully dried and cleaned them out, stabilizing each with paper and archival glue. These one hundred hands were wrapped with copper foil and a cuff of rattlesnake master (a prairie grass) and abaca handmade paper.
Andromeda
Don Asbee forged a series of spiral stands for me for which I made a twined reed for to suit it. The form itself showed me it would be a layered piece of black over knitted steel over black, followed by an encrustation of beads.
Ceres
A few years ago my headlights caught a "pile of diamonds" as I drove through a parking lot. I returned to sweep up a new material to layer, diffuse, interrupt and reflect light–broken windsheild glass. In my urban foraging, I have learned that green tinted glass is the most common and clear is the most rare. Ceres was created specifically for this exhibition, and in Roman mythology she is the goddess of growing plants (especially grains) and of motherly love. Ceres is a personally significant Roman goddess for me as she is the first goddess I learned about as a child and her likeness stands atop the lantern of the capitol dome in Jefferson City, Missouri, where my grandparents lived.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Boone County Historical Society Museum, Columbia, MO
Governor's Mansion, Missouri Mansion Preservation Inc., Jefferson City, MO
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2006 Shape Shifters, Spiva Art Center, Joblin MO
Woven Myths: Contemporary Basketry, Sabbatini Gallery, Topeka, KS
Leandra Spangler& Rimas Visgirda, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO
Re:Visions, Fontbonne University Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2005 Fiber, Paper, Glass: Hand & Breath, CityArts, Wichita, KS
All Things Considered 3, North Tahoe Arts Gallery, Lake Tahoe, CA
Tribute to Fiber, Apex Gallery, Washington, DC
New Blood, Finer Things Gallery, Nashville, TN
2004 Trail Mix, Handweavers Guild of America's Convergence, Denver, CO
Don't Fence me In, Handweavers Guild of America's Convergence, Denver, CO
Traditional Craft- Contemporary Art,New Hampshire Institute of Art, Manchester, NH
2003 Baskets Now, National Basketry Organization, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY
Needle, Loom, Brush: A Patchwork of Fiber, St. Louis Artists Guild, St. Louis, MO
Fiber Focus, Art St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
2002-04, 06 Contemporary Baskets, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2002 Other Materials/Other Forms: Exploring Contemporary Baskery,
Brookfield Craft Center, Brookfield, CT
All Things Considered II, National Basketry Organization Biennial Conference,
Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM
Baskets Now: USA, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
2001 Contemporary Baskets, Juried exhibition, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ
Wichita National 2001, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS
Fiberart International, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
Fine Fiber: Art for the 21st Century, Hinsdale Center for the Arts, Hinsdale, IL
Woven Constructions, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO
Small Expressions, Handweavers Guild of America, Inc., St. Louis Artists Guild, St. Louis, MO
Instructor's View, Midwest Handweavers Conference, University of Illinois, Edwardsville, IL
2000 On & Off the Wall, Ponca City Art Association, Ponca City, OK
Made in Missouri: Fine Craft by Missouri Artists, Craft Alliance,St. Louis, MO
1999 Fiber Focus '99, Art St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Wichita National 1999, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS
All Things Considered, Handweavers Guild of America, Inc., Arrowtmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
Contemporary Crafts, Kirkland Art Center, Clinton, NY
1998 Surface: New Form/New Function, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts,
Gatlinburg, TN
Material World, Spiritual Culture, A Fiber Invitational, Brady Commons
Gallery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Woman: In the Broader Sense, St. Louis Artist' Guild, St. Louis, MO
1997 Fiber Art: National Contemporary Expression, for the Visual Arts, Philadelphia, PA
1996 "Best of Missouri Hands" Award, Missouri Artisans Association
1995 Fiber Focus, Art St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
1994 Materials: Hard and Soft, Center for the Visual Arts, Denton, TX
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
I am intrigued by the way light falls on a surface creating highlights and subtle variations of shadow. To make the variations on the paper surface, I press found objects into newly formed sheets of cotton handmade paper. When the surface is lighted, these impressions create areas of shadow and raised areas catch the light. I am drawn to items others overlook or discard. I love the challenge of incorporating these treasures into my work.
My process involves layering: interlaced reed creates the vessel form; textured paper made by hand prduces a skin-like surface; color or graphite seals and enhances the surface; found treasures, beads and small bits of glass embellish the form.
ABOUT THE WORK
One Hundred Hands Clapping
A platter of uneaten crayfish was being discarded. I was attracted to the beautiful color and form of the claws and to have so many of them, one hundred in all, was a special thrill. Over three months, I carefully dried and cleaned them out, stabilizing each with paper and archival glue. These one hundred hands were wrapped with copper foil and a cuff of rattlesnake master (a prairie grass) and abaca handmade paper.
Andromeda
Don Asbee forged a series of spiral stands for me for which I made a twined reed for to suit it. The form itself showed me it would be a layered piece of black over knitted steel over black, followed by an encrustation of beads.
Ceres
A few years ago my headlights caught a "pile of diamonds" as I drove through a parking lot. I returned to sweep up a new material to layer, diffuse, interrupt and reflect light–broken windsheild glass. In my urban foraging, I have learned that green tinted glass is the most common and clear is the most rare. Ceres was created specifically for this exhibition, and in Roman mythology she is the goddess of growing plants (especially grains) and of motherly love. Ceres is a personally significant Roman goddess for me as she is the first goddess I learned about as a child and her likeness stands atop the lantern of the capitol dome in Jefferson City, Missouri, where my grandparents lived.