Paper Cuts: Interview with Leigh Salgado
Posted by Keith Dugas
The first time I saw a photo of Leigh Salgado‘s work, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. When I first got to see her work in person, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. She cuts, and burns, and folds, and paints largish paperscapes depicting vintage lace, lingerie, and flowers that cascade and fuse with bones and organs. She will occasionally insert sly cultural references such as corporate logos and fleur de lis into her pieces. It’s hard to write about Leigh’s art without being too lyrical or precious, but the works are unmistakably feminine, delicate, erotic, haunting, transcendent, and yeah, divine.
I don’t always feel the need to meet the artist behind the work. Sometimes it’s best to just let the art do the talking. Upon seeing Leigh’s “New Work” at Coagula Curatorial, I found myself not just confronted with the art itself, but with the very soul of the person who created it. It’s evident that this is an artist who bleeds the work, who lays herself bare within it, and that, my friends, is the stuff that makes life worth living. That’s the kind of art that gets me out of bed in the morning. That is why I wanted to talk to Leigh Salgado. I met up with her a few days ago in Chinatown, and she didn’t disappoint.