"Leslie Sills’ multi-media sculptures communicate one of the movements (feminism) central insights – the body may be used as a potent metaphor for psychological, sexual, and historical content," commented Elizabeth Sussman, independent curator and former curator of The Whitney Museum of American Art. This statement, written in 1989, referred to a period of emotionally dark work, primitive figures with wounded surfaces and pained mask faces.

As an artist who creates from the unconscious mind, I find my emotional life before me in three dimensions. While going through a life change, for example, I created Bird Women, not sure if I was one or the other.

Issues of identity, gender roles, sexuality, motherhood, and a deep connection to nature continually appear.

Clay is a constant too. My love of this earthy material that moves so readily within my fingers increases with time. My most recent pieces, ceramic figures, bright with glaze and oil paint, reflect mid-life changes — shifts in relationships, a reordering of priorities.

All my pieces though, throughout the many years I have been working, are visions through a feminine lens. As Margaret Atwood once said, "I like to think I built on my strengths, my womanhood being one."

For further information, email Leslie Sills or visit www.mobilia-gallery.com