Ange Leech
Posted: 03 Nov 2011 | By: Ken Scarlett
Ange Leech works in the areas of sculpture, photography, collage and performance. Her work displays a delightful quirkiness and in the few short years since completing her studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2008, she has also demonstrated remarkable entrepreneurial skills.
When asked to prepare a theoretical application for an exhibition while she was a student in the Sculpture Department she decided, with a certain adventurous spirit, to instead submit her application directly to Red Gallery; her proposal was accepted and lead to her first exhibition. Part sculptural installation, part performance, it consisted of 36 furry monsters — modified children’s toys — placed in and around the oversized bed of a live, sleeping person. It was at once slightly ominous and yet amusing.
Unlikely as it might seem, Ange Leech is committed to “endurance running, fast muscle twitch training and tough bloke training” — serious stuff, but not without its sense of fun, for on one occasion she was “running in a cape and mask as a superhero”. Recently, too, she has taken up boxing.
This fascination with athletics explains her interest in images of the 1956 Olympic Games held in Melbourne; the title of her second exhibition became 1956 Horse Power, and was held at Place Gallery, Melbourne. Working from old photographs of the Olympic athletes, she modelled five figures in clay, made the moulds and cast the life-sized figures in epoxy resin. Wanting to “amplify the feeling of power, endurance and the momentum of the athletes”, she added the image of trucks, superimposed on the heads of the athletes. Very macho.
Athletes featured again in her exhibition at Boxcopy Contemporary Art Space in Brisbane, but this time they had been individually carved in wood with exaggerated muscles and were shown suspended from the ceiling. With flexible limbs they appeared to move through space at a great speed. There was a link with puppetry, though no-one actually manipulated the strings.
Manipulation, however, was encouraged in her work entitled Chevy Teddy, which consisted of a beautifully crafted display case, like a museum item, within which she placed a collection of impeccably crafted wooden objects. Spectators at the Yering Station Sculpture Exhibition in 2009 were encouraged to don large rubber gloves, put their hands within the display case and assemble the parts of Chevy Teddy — a hands-on experience.
After her most recent exhibition this year at Place Gallery, the artist is currently planning a workshop as part of the forthcoming Lorne Sculpture Festival. At this, participants will weave masks from locally sourced plants then parade along the foreshore. Undoubtedly locals will be confronted and confused, but hopefully also intrigued.
An avid photographer, Ange Leech will record this event, as she has done for other performances she has instigated; she also uses photography as the basis for a wide range of collages. Athletes, trucks, horses and mining equipment are combined in unlikely combinations, some set in the desert near Kalgoorlie, others appearing to race down Flinders Street, Melbourne.
Her work shows a distinct individuality, combining a sense of energy and a quality of unexpectedness, while her performance pieces institute a lively engagement with spectators and the community. Perhaps it is her athletic training that has given her the energy to cope with such a range of activity. Tough bloke training indeed!
Images from top:
Ange Leech, Ugly Cuddles, 2008, over-sized bed, soft toys, installation at Red Gallery, Melbourne. Photograph Ange Leech.
Ange Leech, Still Running, 2010, installation of five figures, jelutong, model trucks, suspended from the ceiling of Boxcopy Contemporary Art Space, Brisbane. Photograph Ange Leech.
