Leslie Pruneau
Artist Statement

Since the 1980’s, my work has involved the portrayals of our sociological and economical societies from many different points of perspective.  Largely conceptually based, my work mirrors our consumerism, and our place in the infrastructure of our society through found objects and/or processes that previously have not been displayed.  In the 1990’s, I began collecting objects, sometimes in excesses and creating abstract accumulations.  These accumulations or individual found objects symbolize the excesses of our society and also how other countries view our society as a whole.  My work also addresses the art world and how it has greatly changed in the last century.  Today, I still incorporate found objects, often removing their functional purpose so that the viewer must make their own choices as to the objects new functionality.

I usually work on several pieces concurrently.  As abstract painting may sometimes still be a source for my expression, I have found the Plexiglas medium better suited to specific constructions.  When an object becomes encased or displayed behind this plastic surface, it is immediately rendered useless to its original purpose.  In the process of making one construction, it often will be answered in a proceeding piece that I would construct simultaneously. 

One construction that very well specifies the accumulation of our mass consumerism and the views on the art world is “French’s Mustard”.  Encased in a Plexiglas box with aluminum sides and housed together with aluminum rods and bolts, the mustard jar is displayed on an ultramarine toned piece of Plexiglas.  The jar is without its mustard contents, and is instead painted in its interior with cadmium yellow medium paint, a common color for painters.  At once a glorified object of everyday use, it also signifies how an artist may utilize different objects to portray the world around us.