LESLIE HENSLEE
www.lesliehenslee.com
frankenart@gmail.com

Living in Colorado, I am swimming in nature's majesty at all times, but I've been obsessed with the state's mining history for quite a while now. I frequently hike to abandoned mines I find on maps. I'm drawn to them as symbols of dangerous insta-wealth, spirit-filled tombs, and earthen birth canals. My friends have dubbed me "Leprechaun" given my fascination. Alongside these ghosts is an endless stream of tourists that come to the mountains - to hike, ski, raft, ATV, shoot guns. I'm also drawn to all the artefacts of this type of mining - the voracious mining of vacation symbols and experiences. Motels, used jeeps, fast food, RV's. I can't get enough. I take photos of these things in and around where I live. Photography is not my strong suit, nor does it capture what I see, so I paint, draw, digitize, sculpt and extrapolate from them. As artists, we are always circling, over-decorating, stripping away, and pointing towards a glorious ineffable. I'm always digging for that - somehow expressing the inexpressible.