LESLIE GIFFORD Leslie Gifford has a background in dance, theatre, film and the spiritual/healing arts including yoga, astrology and tarot. Informed by these elements her painting seeks to illuminate emotional nuance, essence and sensuality through an exploration of color, light, form and movement. The notion of dancing with color and light, storytelling, expressing spirit through joy, are all germane to her work. After graduating from Skidmore College Leslie lived and worked in Paris, France. During that time she participated in the Edinburg Theatre Festival where she received A Fringe First Award for her innovative directorial work. The following year she was made Artist In Residence at The American Center for Students and Artists in Paris, under whose auspices she received a Rockefeller Foundation Grant to create performance pieces synthesizing art, dance and theatre. After spending a year traveling extensively throughout Southeast Asia she returned to the United States and began working on the PBS documentary film series The American Experience. During this time she journeyed to the Amazon rain forest, an exploration that culminated in an illustrated book, Earth Song. Leslie’s art has been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries and venues such as the Colorado Springs Airport and is in both private and corporate collections. Her work is published in International Women Artists, Vols. I & II. Leslie divides her time between painting, teaching and traveling. She currently resides in northern California.
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