Art created as a conversation with the world offers immediacy, joy and aliveness.

It allows us to listen and give voice to what is meaningful in our lives.

This practice directs attention to our unique experience, the power of nature as well as our connections with others.

Objects, words, images that evoke

I experiment with layers and juxtapose paper, cloth, image, word, object, voice, and movement to share a story or moment. My wish is to stimulate others to remember; to conjure a shared exploration. I want to offer the power of the natural world — alive, vast, beautiful — essential to our lives.

In my artwork I seek to create experiences where the viewer is more directly involved. The pages of a large book become wings on a wall, sound and projected images invite sensory engagement. Transparent kimonos, mobiles and scrolls are suspended throughout a room. Embedded with images, objects and words, the series of dresses evokes facets of women’s lives. The installation environment provides a context for the work. 

Collaborative projects intrigue. I am able to join a butoh dancer in a tea house, a double bass musician, an improvisational dancer, other artists to make artists’ books.

Publishing limited edition artists’ books, I endeavor to further stretch the meaning and form of “book.” Tres Chicas Books invited me to create a poetry book reflecting this exploration of form. The result was my thin-skinned wandering.

My work in the world has also taken the form of learning design, facilitation and consultancy. As founding principle of Comunica, Inc. I coached leaders and organizations to build community. Conversation, interactive learning labs and rich, shared experience were designed to explore and develop strong communication, innovation and collaboration.

I am committed to inspiring courageous creativity, to build a culture of connection in our world.

Installations, performances, collaborations and readings:

“Ancestors, Mothers, Muses” Women’s Ways, Installation & Conversation using zoom,  2022

• Installation, Lena Street Studios, Santa Fe, NM,  2021

• Installation, Catherine Ferguson Studio, Galisteo, NM,    2017

• Installation and reading joined by Holly Maiz, improvisational dancer,   2017

• Installation, Dragonstone Studios, Santa Fe, NM, 2016

“Map of a Woman’s Heart” reading and music, Andy Zadrozny, double bass, Collected Works, Santa Fe, NM,   2014

“Thin-skinned wanderer” Video installation, reading and conversation: “Making a Book, Livelihood, Community & Collaboration” with Renee Gregorio, Santa Fe Complex, Santa Fe, NM,  2011

“Invisible Threads”

• “Odes and Offerings”, Kimono and poetry collaboration, Santa Fe Community Gallery, Santa Fe, NM ,  2012

• Installation and reading at Stone Forest, Santa Fe, NM,   2011

• “Offering”, Installation and reading with Butoh dance performance, Art X Change Gallery, Seattle,   2011

• “Invisible Threads” Installation for Christmas Eve farolito walk on Canyon Road, Marilyn Batts’ studio, Santa Fe, NM,    2009

• Installation and reading, Gallery 6, NM  2009

• Installation and reading, Catherine Ferguson Studio, Galisteo, NM, 2009

All photos, images and poems © Piper Leigh (unless otherwise noted)