Book and fiber artist, Leslie Marsh, comes from a long line of women who draw with needle and thread. She learned traditional handwork from her grandmother as a child and has been building on those conventional roots ever since. Her current work was infused with gathered bits of vintage velvet, feed sacks, fabric bias, and fibers she has dyed. These pieces are a form of visual storytelling – whimsy with a nod back at her forebears. The other fiber work presented here was inspired by forest flora and fungi. Marsh creates sculptures that are both realistic and dreamy by manipulating wool fiber and threads.
Her books take many forms – traditional bookbinding as well as looser nontraditional manifestations. Most often, they are medieval-styled books (and necklaces) made from a technique of flooded solder over brass.
Leslie has studied under bookbinders Karen Hanmer and Dan Essig as well as Australian textile and natural dye artist India Flint.
Her work is held in private collections across the Americas, Europe and Australia.
She teaches workshops in her Hampstead home studio and at various sites across the United States.
Artist Statement
When I work with fabric and other fibers, I am reminded of the generations of women who came before me. Many of the family heirlooms that have been passed from generation to generation have passed through my hands, and many of them are stitched. I enjoy simply holding the pieces and reflecting on the tenderness sewn into them. I learned traditional handwork from my grandmother as a child and I enjoy the quiet, slow process of drawing with my needle.
I’ve used bits and pieces of fabric I’ve collected over time to create my fiber art. Old quilts and lace, faded velvet and silk. If a clipping shows its age, I like it even more. Some of the pieces I present here are “Home,” where we come from and the people who helped us get here.
In addition to my stitched works, I am showing a series of felted mushrooms. Several of these pieces sit on felted moss and lichen “wildscapes.” By agitating fluffs of wool fiber with a needle, I’ve created realistic replicas of fungi and the environment where they might be found.
I am drawn to historical fiber art, nature and visual storytelling. I am not a perfectionist but rather enjoy watching where a piece takes me as it develops. Often, it’s not at all where I thought I was going.
