About the artist

Born in North Carolina, Leigh Taylor Mickelson moved with her parents to Baltimore when her father, a professional football player, joined the Baltimore Colts. It has been her home, more or less, ever since, but not for much longer. Her husband is a filmmaker and actor, and soon their family will leave Baltimore for a small town outside of New York City, where he can better pursue his career.

As a student in college, Mickelson was introduced to ceramicsand knew immediately that she had found her medium. Her work today is largely influenced by her experience of family, her two young daughters and husband. She explores issues of relationships and identity, group and self, in this current work.  

Artist Statement

“My ceramic sculpture explores the different components of self, sexuality and family, and how these components relate and conflict with one another. I use forms from nature, especially ones found in plant life, as a means of expressing these components. Being full of dichotomy, the elements of natural forms act as metaphor for the spiritual, emotional and physical extremes that exist within our selves, our love relationships and our family units. In the work, I juxtapose one abstract, organic form against another, in horizontal or vertical format. … The vertically stacking pulse pieces are in a sense, lifelines or totems, rhythmic visual heartbeats evoking reminiscences of human interactions present, past or imagined.”

Awards

2003  Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award

Selected Publications

2005   Ceramics Monthly, “Fertility and Fragility: The Work of Leigh Taylor Mickelson”

Education

Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, Masters of Fine Arts 1995

Hamilton College, Clinton, NY, Bachelor of Arts

Exhibits

• Artists of Baltimore Clayworks: Past & Present Resident Artists
• Clay on the Wall:2005 Clay National, Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX