Mary Leigh & Charlotte Campbell

Mother/Daughter/Mother

From Mary Leigh:

My daughter, Charlotte, and I have been making art together since her beginning. At age 3 she already knew what a lino-cut was! We inspire, encourage and delight in one another’s are projects. This past year, unlike any “normal” year, we have been sharing a lot more of our day-to-day lives due to the pandemic. It has been a good experience to be of one another’s art-making processes as they unfold. We have been able to walk through them together. I think that daughters and mothers share a special like-mindedness because of all the familiar places that only the two of them have gone to.

I am presenting about 15 mono-types a printmaking term “one of”. Original prints are made by pressing ink into (on to) a surface, usually paper, with brayers, instead of brushes, and ink instead of paint. It is a medium that the maker (me), does not have total control over, and thus, there is a big area of surprise, openness, and flexibility that comes in the doing, and this is I am infatuated with, addicted to, and never tire from. This series went towards portraits (which is something new) and maybe that is a reflection of the isolation and distancing between all of us. I am missing friends and family, bringing them closer through artmaking. In particular, our dear friend Lenore Helllum, who we lost in 2020 at 91 years old. I want to dedicate my of this show to her. Her portrait is called “Tarot”.

From Charlotte:

My Mother, Mary Leigh, and I have been making art together since I can remember. Many of my favorite childhood memories are of us creating art projects, playing with paints and inks and exploring the wonderfully imaginative creative realm together.

 My mom has always been a creative force; a printmaker, textile artist, and clothing designer, amongst other mediums. She has shared and taught me so much along the way, and as it turns out I also fell in love with printmaking and textile design. We have a language between us that involves these mediums and more. It has been a wonderful journey in life thus far to be able to share and encourage and discuss our ideas with each other. It truly is a beautiful connection, and I feel so fortunate to have this relationship with my mom.

For this exhibition I have been working on a series of monotypes and parquet paintings.

Two years ago I found myself in Oaxaca City, Mexico. It was one of the best spontaneous decisions I have ever made. The creativity and art and vivacious energy of the place was extremely inspiring. While I was there I was fortunate enough to be invited to work at a beautiful  print studio called “La Maquina".

 I created a series of monotypes while in residency there that are a reflection on my time spent in Oaxaca. Small monotypes depicting some of my favorite places and still life settings of daily life.

It was fun to be able to send my mom photos of the print studio and the monotypes I was creating while I was working at La Maquina. We both love the smell of printing inks and sound of presses! So it was a joy to share that process with her.

The parquet painting series is a new exploration for me. I am using wood to create the form of the painting and then combining paint and screen printing to create the layers of pattern and color. I have worked with screen printing for many years and it has been wonderful to reimagine and explore new ways of using this medium. I have always loved patterns and am finding much joy in the natural unfolding that these paintings are taking as I continue to create them.

I love how my Mom’s monotypes and my monotypes and screen printed parquet paintings exist together; bright and colorful patterns meeting clean black lines.

Explorations in printmaking between a mother and daughter. 

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