Leigh Salgado’s solo show PISSED ‘N BLISSED opens Saturday, October 19 with a reception 5-8 PM at LAUNCH LA Gallery, 170 S. LaBrea Ave. in Los Angeles. The show runs thru November 9.

I had exclusive access to the art studio of Leigh Salgado because I am her husband and it is our garage. She will be mortified to see some of these candid shots but I was determined to see thru and make public the intricacies of her process. She turned a single piece of paper measuring almost seven feet high into a masterpiece using exacto blades and acrylic paint. It took her over a year and a half and she worked on many other pieces for the exhibit as well in that time frame.

Above it is March of 2023. She has been at work on this large piece for about a month. It is mounted to the wall with Niobium magnets. She was still a brunette here. Note the lingerie draped on the couch as source material and not hanky panky in the studio.

Above it is December of 2023, work on the exhibit is in high gear. The large piece has evolved with layers of color and new forms. She posed for this shot. That is an exacto blade in her hand by the way. All of the art in this picture is cut paper. The squares on the upper left are cut paper mounted on panel. The piece in front of her and the large piece we’ve been watching evolve are free-hanging pieces of hand-cut paper.

Above is from Summer of 2024 and much of the work on the large piece has been completed but touch ups and other compositional tweaks await as she works on other pieces for the exhibit, trusty blade in hand. She has no idea I took this picture.

Above is September, 2024. She is stiffening the single piece of paper by applying paint to the back. This also creates a subtle interference with light that goes through the cuts, adding a reddened shadow on the wall. She has been working on cut-paper art pieces since the late 1990s. That would be a quarter-century. Her trusty studio assistant Rosie, pictured on the far right, has been there for most of it.

LEIGH SALGADO
Parading My Chones, 2023-24
Acrylic paint and grommets on hand-cut Arches Watercolor paper
83-1/2″ x 44-5/8″
(“Chones” is Spanish slang for underwear)

September 16, 2024… A month to go before the show is hung and she is wondering… “Is it done?!?!”