Artists Registry
Garwood NJ United States
Artist's Statement
I am a digital artist who uses Photoshop to transform reality. My starting point is either a digital photograph, or a scanned paper collage or a photograph. Then in a dialog between my eyes, my soul, and technology, and using Photoshop to manipulate the images, I aim to unlock the story within the image. Each artwork is the result of many experiments, the process is an artistic delight for me and hopefully the result is enchanting to the viewer.
9/11 and Ground Zero hold an important place in my creative life. In October 2001 I created my website, The WTC Journal, http://members.tripod.com/the_questress-ivil/wtcjournal/index.html a collection of photos and writings which continues to be updated to the present. It documents the physical and emotional environment surrounding 9/11 and the rebuilding of Ground Zero. In 2005 I created a digital series, “After the Dust Has Settled”, where I combined my poems with photographs and computer generated images. I am currently working on a new digital series based upon memorials erected in various New Jersey towns. I feel that after the literal and figurative dust has settled on Ground Zero only emptiness will remain. I believe that no matter what will eventually be constructed on Ground Zero, there will always be a hole in our collective souls. These works are an attempt to express how I have personally filled that emotional hole through artwork and writing.
My philosophy as an artist is that art should elevate the soul and address issues in this world using materials and ideas that enhance and uplift the viewer. I also see art as a healing force for the human psyche. In this world stressed by fears, negativity, wars, and natural disasters, we all need to experience something uplifting. I sincerely hope my art is doing that…making the world a little better.
Resume
Leona M Seufert works in a variety of media. Originally trained as a Theatrical Set Designer she spent many years working with professional and community theatres. While residing in Upstate New York, she also successfully sold her LeMars Design line of unique jewelry. Relocating to the metropolitan area, she started creating unique digital worlds after learning to use Photoshop. Recently she has returned to jewelry making, with her Digital Gems line, which combines unique materials with digital images. Seufert is also a poet and has produced 3 books, a hand bound limited edition of her writings done in the year after 9/11 “the 9/11 Year”, a poetry chapbook describing her daily commuting experiences into NYC “ From Here to There and Back Again – A Commuter’s Journey”, and “The Memory Keeper’s Promise” a collection of poems of remembrance.
Seufert’s artwork has appeared in numerous group and solo shows in the NYC Metropolitan area and upstate, NY. She has exhibited in galleries and museums such as The Trenton Museum, in Trenton, NJ, The Les Malamut Art Gallery in Union, NJ, the Hoboken Historical Museum, in Hoboken, NJ, Pearl Street Gallery, in Elizabeth NJ, The Visual Arts Center of NJ in Summit, NJ, The Kenny Art Gallery at the HS of Art & Design, New York City, the Abracheff School of Art, in New York City. and the Market St. Gallery, in Potsdam, NY.
She graduated from New York City’s prestigious high school for art, The High School of Art & Design and holds a BA in Theatre Arts from the State University College of Arts and Science, Potsdam. She is a board member of the Les Malamut Art Gallery, Union, NJ and their webmaster. She maintains a studio in Garwood, NJ and through an online presence with her Studio “L” website: http://Studio-L.tripod.com/index.htm You can contact her at Studio-L@att.net.