MUNTHE ART MONDAY LETHA WILSON

Please introduce yourself and tell us what you do

My name is Letha Wilson, I am a mixed media visual artist based in upstate New York. My work uses landscape photographs, that I take myself, as sculptural material. I bring together photographic prints with materials such as concrete and steel through an experimental approach to artmaking. I am interested in how a landscape photograph can be transformed into a sculptural experience.

Letha is wearing Prescott dress.

Can you explain more about how being a woman has affected your career?

I have embraced ways of working traditionally seen as male dominated; construction, welding, building, drywall installation, as a push back against gender normative roles, and to perhaps revise assumptions about how a woman should work.

Letha is wearing Portland dress

What has been the most challenging aspect of being a woman in the arts?

Culturally women are often expected to be caregivers and I think it takes more effort for us to put our artwork first, or at least this was how I felt in my early years as an artist. Now I think one of the biggest challenges is disparity in pricing of my work compared to my male peers; which just means I need to work harder to financially support my studio.

Letha is wearing Pezi top

Can you name some other female (artist) that inspires you and explain why they do this?

Artists who inspire me and whose work I love include artists from previous generations such as Lynda Benglis, Anne Truitt, Georgia O’Keefe, Nancy Holt and Louise Bourgeois. More contemporary artists (whom I also consider friends) whose work I really admire include Carolyn Salas, Jenny J. Lee, Victoria Fu, Kate Steciw, Cammie Staros, Roxanne Jackson, Carrie Schneider - just to name a few!

What would you like people to notice in your artwork?

I would hope that people would look twice, re-consider assumptions about materials and photography, reflect on images of the natural landscape in a new way, and perhaps provoke a desire to go out into the natural world themselves.

Letha is wearing Prescott dress.