8th Summer.....
An attempt at finding the way out.
BY MORGAN LEIGH
8TH SUMMER: An attempt at finding a way out by artist Morgan Leigh is a collection of original images documented in the height of the grueling Phoenix, Arizona summer heat, where the artist lives and works with her daughter and Great Dane. This work is an homage to the converging seasons of life and weather, signifying her eighth summer in Arizona through her first book.
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 (how lovely it is to discuss the land that a young woman of color owns, even today..), 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.
8th Summer is unique in its ability to exist in several physical forms—a diary (capturing another summer with heat ranging up to 110 degrees for months at a time), a documentation that serves a professional purpose, a portfolio to share progress and feelings, and, lastly, a testament to the closing of a chapter as Leigh feels ready to retire the dry heat and begin a new cycle elsewhere. Morgan Leigh believes the only way out is through, and her work justifies that.
8th Summer is available for Pre-Sale now until November 4th, 2024. Order yours directly from the artist here: https://morganleigh.info/8TH-SUMMER
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**Queue Magazine is pleased to announce that our first full printed edition of Queue Magazine, slated for 2025, will include a full interview with artist Morgan Leigh. In the meantime, here is a fruitful response to one of our questions that arose in conversation with Morgan:
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**Queue Magazine is pleased to announce that our first full printed edition of Queue Magazine, slated for 2025, will include a full interview with artist Morgan Leigh. In the meantime, here is a fruitful response to one of our questions that arose in conversation with Morgan:
Catherine Camargo (Q Founder & Editor): Feathers, dirt, flour, paper, fossils, thin sheets of plastic, your body’s reflection, latex, mattress foam, claws, melted wax, collected reptile skin,soap,surgical tape, rocks, found objects like metal and rubber—where do your inclinations toward these materials stem from?
Morgan Leigh: I'd say that many of these materials have drawn me in over time. Even from the early stages of my work, back when I was 16 and into my college years, I was intuitively pulled toward materials like soap, latex, and fur as ways of storytelling. Over time, with new experiences and emotions, I found myself gravitating towards specific materials to embody those feelings. This approach has created a kind of cohesive language in my practice.
For instance, if I want to convey feelings of tension, I'll reach for latex; with soap, it’s about cleansing and renewal. I think about how these choices can evoke a visceral response in viewers, allowing them to feel some of those same associations. Overall, there’s no set reason for choosing any particular material—they just come to me naturally, and over time, I start to understand the reasons behind each choice.
For instance, if I want to convey feelings of tension, I'll reach for latex; with soap, it’s about cleansing and renewal. I think about how these choices can evoke a visceral response in viewers, allowing them to feel some of those same associations. Overall, there’s no set reason for choosing any particular material—they just come to me naturally, and over time, I start to understand the reasons behind each choice.
8TH SUMMER
BY MORGAN LEIGH
An attempt at finding the way out.
8” X 10”
softcover
60 images
FORWARD BY VANESSA ALDRICH
pre-order closes 11.4
orders ship by 12.01
subscribe here to receive unreleased footage of upcoming 2025 Queue X Morgan Leigh in depth interview.
Queue is proud to represent Morgan Leigh. for inquiries on available works by ML, please contact catherine@queuegallery.net
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