ARCADIA DISRUPTED By Leslie Drennan
Leslie Drennan is a visual artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. She is pursuing an MFA in sculpture at Georgia State University, and Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design opened its doors for “Arcadia Disrupted.” Drennan focuses on the social and climatic crumbliness everyone experiences, whether consciously or not. With her mother and artist identity, she holds hope and believes in her hands. She used so many objects when she created her art, like plastics, stickers, wood, aluminum, stone, paper, etc., that the materials hit the point that she tried to make her audience wake up. While walking around her works, materials took my attention, and I felt like I was simultaneously in the past and the present, or in the city, the suburb, and maybe among the woods. Throughout the work, we can see how the world and lives changed. What happens when everything changes? She also hit a certain point in her work, which was animals. Among her works, she placed the animals at specific points. It made me think we were living in our place, or we had just stolen their place, or worse, we had damaged them and their house. A lot is going on here. And Drennan used her creative practice just perfectly. You cannot get the idea without diving into her works, but I am always fascinated by how art affects our lives and makes us think. Wow. I am glad that I have a chance to get to know magnificent souls. You should stop by. Just walk in.
The Hour of do-we-vanish-too-without-a-trace (2025)
Handmade paper, thread, screenprint, fabric, ink
58 ½ x 28 inches
Self-portrait while Standing (2024)
oak log, I beam, rebar, cedar, chandelier, cast paper, speaker, flooring
96x96x96 inches
Pretend You’re Not from a Place (2023)
handmade paper, thread, spray paint, ink, charcoal, fire.
Courtesy of the artist,
33’’ x 27’’ inches
Materials of Great Importance (2024-2025)
plastic films, plastic packaging, paper trash found branches,
drywall, paint, stickers, iron, aluminum, stoneware, slag, pine,
acrylic sheet
