
Candace Leslie is a visual artist whose practice focuses on showcasing the value, brilliance, and multi-faceted nature of blackness through a combination of floral and spiritual themes to symbolize growth and encourage respect towards black lives.
About
As self-taught oil painter and collage artist born and raised in Columbus, GA, Candace Leslie cultivated a strong appreciation for plant life, natural elements and fable and folklore. Utilizing a hybrid practice combining gritty, gnarled texture and multi-layered brushstroke techniques with transformative chroma, she paints upon various surfaces, including wood panel, framed canvases and long, linen strips. Ever pressed, Candace mounts her exploration of nurturing aspects of haircare and rite of passing on cultural knowledge of this symbiotic nurturing transmitted across generations through women and children, showcased inside surreal, folkloric settings.
Candace's work has been included in the West Harlem Arts group exhibition, was a recipient of the Davis Projects for Peace Grant through JumpstArt NYC and participated in collaborative cohort for the Hair at Ely group exhibition at the Ely Center for Contemporary Art.
RESIDENCIES & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Zipcode Memory Project
New York, NY
ChaShaMa ChaNorth Residency Program
Hudson Valley, New York
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Ely Center of Contemporary Art
JumpstArt NYC
Davis Projects for Peace Grant
New York, NY
Children’s Art Carnival + Centro Civico Cultural Dominicano