Bio
Leah Dalton is a queer artist whose work draws on the capacity of and engagement with the body as a form of identity activism, plasticity exploration, and the body as a form of storytelling and reimaginings. Dalton’s work explores the intersections of gender, body politics, and the poetics of materiality within the expanded field of Sex Ecologies. Dalton often incorporates their own body in performance, and works with others archiving their stories, specifically women and those in their LGBTQIA2S+ community.
Recent projects include; Director and Curator at 109 Gallery, Chickamauga, GA, Ox Bow Residency, Saugatuck MI, 2023, Curator of Sex Ecologies: Becoming Plastic, Stove Works Gallery, Chattanooga, TN, May 2023, Board Member Women’s Eco Art Dialog, Berkeley, CA, Artist Workshop in collaboration with Anna. L. Georgie Ph.D. Vice President of Conservation Science and Education Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga, TN (March 30 -2023), All Voices Heard Poetry Publication, Something Left to Say group exhibition at Wick Monet gallery 2022 in Pittsburgh PA, and Artist Talk Art-A-Nooga, Dry Ice gallery, Chattanooga TN, artist in residency with Kriti Contemporary Gallery, Varanasi India, and artist in residency in Oaxaca Mexico. Dalton received their bachelor’s degree from Savannah College of Art and Design, and a Masters degree in the Low-Residency program from the Art Institute of Chicago.
Artist Statement
I believe there is discovery in looking through the lens of trans-corporeality. To understand the human-environment relationship is necessary and crucial. We are bound to the crisis of ecological collapse more so in marginalized bodies, spaces, and places, everything is interconnected. I see my role as an artist, curator, and human then to connect, I seek to understand, and to imagine new ways of being in and part of the world.
My social and somatic practice informs my material formations. I archive experiences of being through paintings, sculpture, poetry, or through durational + experimental performance. The inner workings of my social and somatic practice is by inquiry, questioning, seeking meaning, experimenting, and involves intuition practice.
EDUCATION
The School of The Art Institute of Chicago
M.F.A Candidate interdisciplinary studies
Savannah College of Art and Design
B.F.A in Fashion Design & Art 2012
CURATORIAL PROJECTS (select)
Sex Ecologies: Becoming Plastic Echo Contemporary Art, Atlanta, GA (forthcoming 2024)
Biofeedback, Compound Yellow, Oak Park, IL ( May 6- June 3-2023)
Sculptures in The Sky, event planning committee member, Chattanooga TN (April 22-2023)
Sex Ecologies: Becoming Plastic, Stove Works gallery, Chattanooga, TN ( May 26th 2023)
Toolbox by Sspatz collective, co-curated with Laura Shaeffer, Compound Yellow, Oak Park, IL ( February 28-March 25-2023)
Poetics of Materiality, Chattanooga, TN ( October 1-30-2022)
Femme Vitale, Chattanooga, TN ( October 9- November 7-2021)
LIT art gallery curator of monthly exhibitions, Chattanooga, TN (from 2017-2018)
Art Haus Collective Pop-up Show, group curated, Atlanta, GA, (2016)
Graduate Fashion Show, curator/co-director, Atlanta, GA (2011)
ART RESIDENCIES
Ox-Bow Residency Acceptance, Saugatuck, MI (June 2023, August 3 -Sep-2022 )
An Artist Residency in Motherhood (ARIM), Melbourne, FL (June 18 -July 18-2019)
Kriti Art Residency, Varanasi, India (July - September-2017)
Art Rise awarded Fall Fellow, Non Fiction Gallery, Savannah, GA (September - October 2016)
Arquetopia Residency, Oaxaca, Mexico (July - August 2016)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Under The Mango Tree, Art Haus gallery, Atlanta, GA ( December 17-January 17-2017)
Bloom, Kriti Contemporary gallery, Varanasi, India( July 17-20-2017)
Triumph & Struggle, Art Haus gallery, Atlanta, GA ( January 13-31-2017)
Collective Body: Triumph & Struggle, Non-Fiction gallery, Savannah, GA (October 28-31-2016)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (select)
Yard Installations, Compound Yellow, Oak Park, IL ( forthcoming 2023)
Hunter Under Ground, Annual Fundraiser, Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN ( March 25-2023 selected artist 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017)
Annual All Member Salon Show, AVA gallery, Chattanooga, TN ( November 30- December 23-2022 selected artist 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017)
Something Left To Say, Wick Monet gallery, Pittsburgh, PA ( July 22-June 22-2022) in partnership with the Abortion Defence and Women’s Law Project in PA, a public interest and legal center devoted to defending and expanding the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Annual AVA Juried Member Exhibition, AVA gallery, Chattanooga, TN ( July 1-August 12-2022 selected artist 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016)
A Woman Is A Riot, an art exhibition celebrating bodily autonomy & human rights for the 49th anniversary of roe vs wade, and fundraiser for Planned Parenthood Tennessee & North Mississippi, Chattanooga, TN ( February 19-2022 )
Femme Vitale, Curator & Artist, Chattanooga, TN ( October 9- November 7-2021)
United in Art, Art-Haus gallery, Atlanta, GA ( March 26-2021)
Red, Art-Haus gallery, Atlanta, GA ( February 12-2021)
Opening: A Celebration, Art & Soul Collective, Atlanta, GA ( August 20-2016)
Dank Memes: Stories of Cultural Viruses, Non-Fiction gallery, Savannah, GA (July 22- August 2-2016)
Showcase organized by artists, Arquetopia Residency, Oaxaca, Mexico (2016)
ARTIST TALKS + WORKSHOPS (select)
Performance, Art-A-Nooga, Dry Ice gallery & Stove Works gallery, Chattanooga, TN ( January 20-2023)
Artist Visit in collaboration with Anna. L. Georgie Ph.D. Vice President of Conservation Science and Education Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga, TN (March 30 -2023)
Artist Workshop + Dialogue with iSustian Inc on advanced recycling, circular energy, and technologies and research on microplastics, Virtual ( March 16-2023)
Curatorial Talk + Q&A representative for Compound Yellow art residency and gallery for Career and Professional Experience Event hosted by SAIC ( March 1-2023)
Meet & Greet Artist Talk for Sex Ecologies: Becoming Plastic exhibition, Chattanooga, TN & Virtual ( February 16-2023)
Artist Talk, Art-A-Nooga, Dry Ice gallery, Chattanooga, TN (January 20-2023)
Talk + Instructor, Artful Yoga is an ongoing series connecting art from the Hunter Museum with yoga taught by local and visiting instructors, Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN (December 11-2022)
Curatorial Talk + Q&A in partnership with the University of Tennessee Chattanooga for Poetics of Materiality Exhibition, Chattanooga, TN ( October 13-2022)
Artist Talk + Presentation in Wu Tsang Colloquium, Visiting Artist Series, School of The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL July 15-2022)
Workshop + Artist Talk, Reimagining vulva sculpture making and dialogue, Chattanooga, TN, (October 17-2021)
Women’s Workshop + Dialogue, free & open to all women, LIT art gallery, Chattanooga, TN ( January 21-2018)
Poetry Workshop, free bi-weekly poetry workshop co-hosted with Poet & Creative Strategist Erika Roberts, LIT art gallery, Chattanooga, TN ( 2017-2018)
Workshop + Artist Talk , free & open to all women, Non-Fiction gallery, Savannah, GA (October 29-2016)
Workshop + Art Classes , in partnership with The City of Atlanta Office of Recreation, Atlanta, GA ( 2015-2016)
Art workshop with orphanage, International Volunteer Headquarters, Lima, Peru (2015)
Full CV upon request.
Leah Dalton is a queer artist whose work draws on the capacity of and engagement with the body as a form of identity activism, plasticity exploration, and the body as a form of storytelling and reimaginings. Dalton’s work explores the intersections of gender, body politics, and the poetics of materiality within the expanded field of Sex Ecologies. Dalton often incorporates their own body in performance, and works with others archiving their stories, specifically women and those in their LGBTQIA2S+ community.
Recent projects include; Director and Curator at 109 Gallery, Chickamauga, GA, Ox Bow Residency, Saugatuck MI, 2023, Curator of Sex Ecologies: Becoming Plastic, Stove Works Gallery, Chattanooga, TN, May 2023, Board Member Women’s Eco Art Dialog, Berkeley, CA, Artist Workshop in collaboration with Anna. L. Georgie Ph.D. Vice President of Conservation Science and Education Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga, TN (March 30 -2023), All Voices Heard Poetry Publication, Something Left to Say group exhibition at Wick Monet gallery 2022 in Pittsburgh PA, and Artist Talk Art-A-Nooga, Dry Ice gallery, Chattanooga TN, artist in residency with Kriti Contemporary Gallery, Varanasi India, and artist in residency in Oaxaca Mexico. Dalton received their bachelor’s degree from Savannah College of Art and Design, and a Masters degree in the Low-Residency program from the Art Institute of Chicago.
Artist Statement
I believe there is discovery in looking through the lens of trans-corporeality. To understand the human-environment relationship is necessary and crucial. We are bound to the crisis of ecological collapse more so in marginalized bodies, spaces, and places, everything is interconnected. I see my role as an artist, curator, and human then to connect, I seek to understand, and to imagine new ways of being in and part of the world.
My social and somatic practice informs my material formations. I archive experiences of being through paintings, sculpture, poetry, or through durational + experimental performance. The inner workings of my social and somatic practice is by inquiry, questioning, seeking meaning, experimenting, and involves intuition practice.
EDUCATION
The School of The Art Institute of Chicago
M.F.A Candidate interdisciplinary studies
Savannah College of Art and Design
B.F.A in Fashion Design & Art 2012
CURATORIAL PROJECTS (select)
Sex Ecologies: Becoming Plastic Echo Contemporary Art, Atlanta, GA (forthcoming 2024)
Biofeedback, Compound Yellow, Oak Park, IL ( May 6- June 3-2023)
Sculptures in The Sky, event planning committee member, Chattanooga TN (April 22-2023)
Sex Ecologies: Becoming Plastic, Stove Works gallery, Chattanooga, TN ( May 26th 2023)
Toolbox by Sspatz collective, co-curated with Laura Shaeffer, Compound Yellow, Oak Park, IL ( February 28-March 25-2023)
Poetics of Materiality, Chattanooga, TN ( October 1-30-2022)
Femme Vitale, Chattanooga, TN ( October 9- November 7-2021)
LIT art gallery curator of monthly exhibitions, Chattanooga, TN (from 2017-2018)
Art Haus Collective Pop-up Show, group curated, Atlanta, GA, (2016)
Graduate Fashion Show, curator/co-director, Atlanta, GA (2011)
ART RESIDENCIES
Ox-Bow Residency Acceptance, Saugatuck, MI (June 2023, August 3 -Sep-2022 )
An Artist Residency in Motherhood (ARIM), Melbourne, FL (June 18 -July 18-2019)
Kriti Art Residency, Varanasi, India (July - September-2017)
Art Rise awarded Fall Fellow, Non Fiction Gallery, Savannah, GA (September - October 2016)
Arquetopia Residency, Oaxaca, Mexico (July - August 2016)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Under The Mango Tree, Art Haus gallery, Atlanta, GA ( December 17-January 17-2017)
Bloom, Kriti Contemporary gallery, Varanasi, India( July 17-20-2017)
Triumph & Struggle, Art Haus gallery, Atlanta, GA ( January 13-31-2017)
Collective Body: Triumph & Struggle, Non-Fiction gallery, Savannah, GA (October 28-31-2016)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (select)
Yard Installations, Compound Yellow, Oak Park, IL ( forthcoming 2023)
Hunter Under Ground, Annual Fundraiser, Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN ( March 25-2023 selected artist 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017)
Annual All Member Salon Show, AVA gallery, Chattanooga, TN ( November 30- December 23-2022 selected artist 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017)
Something Left To Say, Wick Monet gallery, Pittsburgh, PA ( July 22-June 22-2022) in partnership with the Abortion Defence and Women’s Law Project in PA, a public interest and legal center devoted to defending and expanding the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Annual AVA Juried Member Exhibition, AVA gallery, Chattanooga, TN ( July 1-August 12-2022 selected artist 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016)
A Woman Is A Riot, an art exhibition celebrating bodily autonomy & human rights for the 49th anniversary of roe vs wade, and fundraiser for Planned Parenthood Tennessee & North Mississippi, Chattanooga, TN ( February 19-2022 )
Femme Vitale, Curator & Artist, Chattanooga, TN ( October 9- November 7-2021)
United in Art, Art-Haus gallery, Atlanta, GA ( March 26-2021)
Red, Art-Haus gallery, Atlanta, GA ( February 12-2021)
Opening: A Celebration, Art & Soul Collective, Atlanta, GA ( August 20-2016)
Dank Memes: Stories of Cultural Viruses, Non-Fiction gallery, Savannah, GA (July 22- August 2-2016)
Showcase organized by artists, Arquetopia Residency, Oaxaca, Mexico (2016)
ARTIST TALKS + WORKSHOPS (select)
Performance, Art-A-Nooga, Dry Ice gallery & Stove Works gallery, Chattanooga, TN ( January 20-2023)
Artist Visit in collaboration with Anna. L. Georgie Ph.D. Vice President of Conservation Science and Education Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga, TN (March 30 -2023)
Artist Workshop + Dialogue with iSustian Inc on advanced recycling, circular energy, and technologies and research on microplastics, Virtual ( March 16-2023)
Curatorial Talk + Q&A representative for Compound Yellow art residency and gallery for Career and Professional Experience Event hosted by SAIC ( March 1-2023)
Meet & Greet Artist Talk for Sex Ecologies: Becoming Plastic exhibition, Chattanooga, TN & Virtual ( February 16-2023)
Artist Talk, Art-A-Nooga, Dry Ice gallery, Chattanooga, TN (January 20-2023)
Talk + Instructor, Artful Yoga is an ongoing series connecting art from the Hunter Museum with yoga taught by local and visiting instructors, Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN (December 11-2022)
Curatorial Talk + Q&A in partnership with the University of Tennessee Chattanooga for Poetics of Materiality Exhibition, Chattanooga, TN ( October 13-2022)
Artist Talk + Presentation in Wu Tsang Colloquium, Visiting Artist Series, School of The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL July 15-2022)
Workshop + Artist Talk, Reimagining vulva sculpture making and dialogue, Chattanooga, TN, (October 17-2021)
Women’s Workshop + Dialogue, free & open to all women, LIT art gallery, Chattanooga, TN ( January 21-2018)
Poetry Workshop, free bi-weekly poetry workshop co-hosted with Poet & Creative Strategist Erika Roberts, LIT art gallery, Chattanooga, TN ( 2017-2018)
Workshop + Artist Talk , free & open to all women, Non-Fiction gallery, Savannah, GA (October 29-2016)
Workshop + Art Classes , in partnership with The City of Atlanta Office of Recreation, Atlanta, GA ( 2015-2016)
Art workshop with orphanage, International Volunteer Headquarters, Lima, Peru (2015)
Full CV upon request.
Sex Ecologies: Becoming Plastic
Bound Bodies
This series was started in 2022 and is on-going
This body of work is looking at the ever changing and complex roles and relationships we have with nature, plastics and human-made materials. Conceiving new ways of imagining and exploring identity, sexuality, and discovery of self and more-than self within the setting of environment, body, place, and space. Looking at and grappling with relationships and understandings between environment, identity, the anthropocene and hegemonic impacts on body, place, and belief systems.
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Bound Bodies
This series was started in 2022 and is on-going
This body of work is looking at the ever changing and complex roles and relationships we have with nature, plastics and human-made materials. Conceiving new ways of imagining and exploring identity, sexuality, and discovery of self and more-than self within the setting of environment, body, place, and space. Looking at and grappling with relationships and understandings between environment, identity, the anthropocene and hegemonic impacts on body, place, and belief systems.
