Leah Oates: Capturing Unconventional Beauty

Artist, Leah Oates, will present her work in an upcoming show at the Edward Hopper House Art Center in Nyack, New York. The exhibition, “Earth, Sea and In Between,” will feature works exploring natural landscapes using unique processes to illustrate movement, form and human interaction with the elements. Oates’ photography responds to sites and objects that are often ignored and articulates the effects of social processes and consumption on the landscape. Her work captures the beauty in the unconventional and the undesirable, and epitomizes the saying, "what is one man's trash is another man's treasure."

In her website biography, Oates states, “The work I create first originates as a response to sites and objects that are ignored such as piles of trash, alleyways, overpasses or abandoned structures. In most instances the locations that I have shot in are not desirable travel destinations, are generally working class and are in industrial areas. This type of space has a personal resonance for me as I grew up in a very similar location in New England. I have a strong emotional connection, knowledge and familiarity with this kind of locality and want to document it in all of its poignant beauty."

About the Artist

Leah Oates is a B.F.A. graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. She also received her M.F.A from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Oates currently resides and works in Brooklyn, N.Y. She has had solo shows at venues including Real Art Ways, A4L Gallery, A Taste of Art Gallery, Sara Nightingale Gallery and the Sol Mednick Gallery at the Philadelphia University of the Arts.

Information and Images Courtesy: Leah Oates Website