Inside/Outside h41" x w60" h104cm x w152cm
Connections h34" x w48" h86cm x w121cm
Slide Show below

Lesley values the beauty and importance of trees, cooling hot cities, filtering polluted air and softening the hard edges of urban development.
Trees are an important symbol in many cultures. They are used in myths and legends and are generally a revered image. Their long lives allow them to watch over many changes in history.
There is a change in atmosphere as one enters a forest, which suggests a feeling of sanctuary
Trees are even more important today, as a positive force against climate change.

Lesley uses a combination of techniques to create this work that alters the surface of the fabric. She uses techniques learned from industrial processes e.g. devoré from her textile background, adding paper-making and painting skills.
She photograph trees, focusing on the intricacy of their branching structures and then prints these images on silk/cotton fabric, using a dimensional ink. She eliminates selected background areas, leaving the structural images of the tree.
The individual elements are then assembled in a collage. The piece is painted with metal patinas, dyes and pigments and strengthened on the back with plant fibre.

Lesley was born in Cornwall, England. She received her art teachers training in London and her Masters Degree in the USA. She taught in the Textile Arts Program at Capilano University Vancouver, until 2003, while continuing her practice as a studio artist. She now works full time in her Vancouver studio.

Lesley has work in public collections in Canada, USA, Japan, Poland, Gabon and S. Korea.


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Selected Commissions Click to see
Selected Collections Click to see

Selected Exhibitions
2022 Venice Art Biennial, organized by the European Cultural Centre, Venice, Italy
2021 Venice Architectural Biennial, organized by the European Cultural Centre, Venice, Italy
2014 Game Changers - Fiber Art Masters and Innovators, Fuller Craft Museum, USA
2012 Crafts Embrace the World, Choengju International Craft Competition Winners, Korean Craft Museum, S. Korea
2011 Art in Embassies, Dept. of State, USA,
Libreville, Gabon, Africa
2007 5th. Cheongju International Craft Competition, Cheongju, S. Korea. Bronze Award for fibre
2007 12th. International Triennial of Tapestry,
Central Museum of Textiles, Lodz, Poland
2006 Pacific Rim Connections, Works of Lesley Richmond & Sang-jae Nam, Central Museum of Textiles, Lodz, Poland
2001 Fiberart International 2001, Pittsburgh Centre for the Arts, Pittsburgh, USA. Award for Distinguished International Entry
Selected Publications
2012 Textiles - The Art of Mankind, Mary Schoeser, Thames and Hudson, UK
2009 Art Textiles of the World: Canada, Telos Art Publishing, UK
Highlights
Duane Reed Gallery Exhibition 2023 (video)
Duane Reed Gallery Exhibition 2020 (video)
Lesley Richmond Digital Studio Visit
Textile Fibre Forum, Australian Publication, 2019
Article From Conception to Creation - Textile Artist.Org
Interview The Intersection between Craft & Art - Textile Artist.Org
Lesley Richmond
Woodland h121cm x w224cm
Duane Reed Gallery
4729 McPherson Ave. 
St. Louis, MO 63108
314.361.4100
www.duanereedgallery.com
info@duanereedgallery.com


The clarity of the atmosphere distills the colors and forms to a simple stark elegance, as growth silently waits to be renewed in the Spring.

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Poplars are renowned for their elegance of form and movement. The swaying of the trunks and the way the leaves catch the sun, give them a graceful and stately presence.

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The Skyline and Treeline series explore the sensation of distance and perspective, pulling the eye into the piece and up to the horizon.

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The microcosm of Nature and its life cycle is evident in the layered details of the forest floor and the changing of the intricate structures of branches against the sky.

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The Foliage series brings attention to the rich textures of the leaves as they move through their seasonal transformations.

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The Distant Forest series incorporates details of the forest floor. The layers and detritus of the seasons bring our focus close to the earth, revealing a microcosm of the life cycle of nature.

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The Secret Forest and Painted Forest Series, explore the visual splendor of the forest canopy with its intricate branching and rich coloration.

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TheLace Cloth series reflect Lesley's visits to lace museums in Europe. Lesley realized that because of her interest in the concept of deterioration, her pieces often resembled lace. This textile is usually thought of as a prestigious fabric, using highly stylized images and painstaking handwork.

In the Lace Cloth series, she studies the growth structures of natural forms. Some of the forms she constructs with heat-reactive base reference antique lace designs influenced by organic structures.

LAce Cloth Series Thumbnails
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An exploration of branches seeking the light.

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Lesley is inspired by natural forms and textures and constructs textiles that simulate organic surfaces. She has always enjoyed the processes of surface design techniques and the countless possibilities of their different combinations. She makes textiles that suggest organic surfaces by changing the structure of the fabric, rather than imposing a design on the surface of the cloth. She uses distressing techniques and chemical processes to change the surface structure of the fiber into an illusion of organic decay.

In the Leaf Cloth series Lesley constructs textiles that explore the delicate cellular shapes and perforations of leaf veins. The finished fabric looks fragile, but is actually quite strong, not unlike the leaf-skeleton itself.

Leaf Cloth Series Thumbnails
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Photography by Kenji Nagai
Gallery Representation
Click on a logo below to visit
Duane Reed Gallery
4729 McPherson Ave. 
St. Louis, MO 63108
314.361.4100
www.duanereedgallery.com
info@duanereedgallery.com
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