featured works
by
rosa leff
* unless otherwise noted, all works below are available for pickup or shipping after September 30th *
artist statement
“I’ll never forget the time I got an email from a stranger praising my talent but asking why I choose to cut such ‘ugly’ things. A new friend, upon seeing my work for the first time, exclaimed ‘Wow, it’s such a dirty alley but you made it so pretty!’ To me, the grit of cities has always been beautiful. I’ve never felt called to make papercuts of scenic pastures, mountaintop views of forests, or the shadows of palm trees on the beach. Why would I do that when I could cut a gorgeous graffiti covered restaurant with questionable sanitation policies?
In January I moved to Puerto Rico. And I’m definitely biased, but I think it’s safe to say that many people consider it paradise. Between the rainforest, the coral reefs, and the parrots there’s no shortage of natural beauty. (Though I must admit I continue to be surprised at how wild parrots can look so majestic while sounding exactly like Gilbert Gottfried.) So naturally I went in search of my beloved grit, and I found it– Sort of. I found broken glass in the sand where toddlers dug for treasure. I found supermarket bags full of empty beer cans tied up and hung from trees in the rainforest. I found myself dodging empty bags of Doritos that had been swept up by the wind.
Building this collection has been a way for me to process these daily experiences. It’s a way for me to try to understand the thought process of wedging an empty water bottle into the crook of a tree branch or tossing it deep into the mangroves versus just dropping it on the ground. There’s a difference between grit and dirt. I’ve certainly been to plenty of places with litter problems. But somehow it feels different here. And because of that, I find myself feeling more peeved about it everywhere I go.
What I can say is that I’ve developed a whole new appreciation for the fact that soda cans can apparently be crushed in such a way that their folds almost look soft and that the discarded wrapper of a 3 Musketeers bar can mirror the topography of a mountain range after being run over by a car a few times. As always (or at least almost always) I’m looking for the beauty in the things most ignore.”
about the artist
began cutting paper in 2012 while working on her Master’s in Elementary Education at The University of Pennsylvania. When asked to create a children’s book as part of her program, she looked to Eric Carle and Ezra Jack Keats for inspiration. Building on the education she received from painting with her grandmother, Jacqueline Ziegler, and her time at the Instituto Superior de Artes de La Habana, Leff created her first papercut illustrations.
Leff has served on the board of The Guild of American Papercutters (GAP). In addition to being a GAP member she is a member of The Paper Artist Collective. Leff has exhibited her work throughout the United States, in China, and in Mexico. Her work has been acquired by The Canton Museum of Art (Canton, OH), The Colored Girls Museum (Philadelphia, PA) and The Museum of International Folk Art (Santa Fe, NM). She is the recipient of a 2021 Maryland State Arts Council Independent Artist Award, the 2021 Municipal Art Society of Baltimore City Artist Travel Prize, and the 2023 360 Xochi Quetzal BIPOC Residency. Leff resides in Puerto Rico with her husband and chihuahuas, Chalupa and Refrito.
Photo courtesy of Justin Tsucalas and Bmoreart