Morgan Leigh
(b. 1993)
Morgan Leigh grew up in Napa Valley in Northern California and later moved to Oakland and Chicago; she now resides in Arizona. Adopted at age two within her own family, her education in art began as early as high school, and she later received a Bachelor’s in Sculpture and Fashion at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, graduating in 2015. Phoenix was new territory for her and her young daughter upon arrival eight years ago —the air was different: still, dry, and quiet. Over the years, she has spent time using the region's geography as a vast, rich landscape of offerings, providing her both fertile material and the opportunity to sit in stillness between the sky and earth–the purest privilege of silent reflection.
This meditative state, brought about by her environmental surroundings, has inspired a bounty of conceptual and spiritual themes in her work. She has spent time scouring the earth at landmarks within the Sonoran Desert, the Marble Canyon, and even her own slice of dry heaven—80 acres of land resting at the border of the Petrified Forest National Park. This land, her land, is named “Millions Ranch.”
Millions Ranch is a several-year-long investigative project in which Leigh is granting herself the time to deepen her understanding of the land, both physically and spiritually, with the intention of eventually creating a residency + retreat artistic space on the land.
Leigh’s works act as a culmination of collective personal memories. Though personal, the materials she gravitates toward are universal in their recognition to viewers—they are stones we have all, at some point, turned, picked up, and observed under the sunlight while squinting, or stepped on while barefoot. Her work explores conceptual notions of motherhood, grief, her multi-racial background, meditative reflections, and a spirituality of oneness that represents her beyond all the other titles a woman may carry. Her projects document the flow of her life, sharing the essence and articulating the synchronicities of her experiences.
This meditative state, brought about by her environmental surroundings, has inspired a bounty of conceptual and spiritual themes in her work. She has spent time scouring the earth at landmarks within the Sonoran Desert, the Marble Canyon, and even her own slice of dry heaven—80 acres of land resting at the border of the Petrified Forest National Park. This land, her land, is named “Millions Ranch.”
Millions Ranch is a several-year-long investigative project in which Leigh is granting herself the time to deepen her understanding of the land, both physically and spiritually, with the intention of eventually creating a residency + retreat artistic space on the land.
Leigh’s works act as a culmination of collective personal memories. Though personal, the materials she gravitates toward are universal in their recognition to viewers—they are stones we have all, at some point, turned, picked up, and observed under the sunlight while squinting, or stepped on while barefoot. Her work explores conceptual notions of motherhood, grief, her multi-racial background, meditative reflections, and a spirituality of oneness that represents her beyond all the other titles a woman may carry. Her projects document the flow of her life, sharing the essence and articulating the synchronicities of her experiences.