Leah Gonzales is returning to her roots – beyond just metaphors of the earth. As she prepares to open her solo exhibition titled “Flowers Shall Grow, And I Am In Them,” she recalls winning one of her first art awards as a young student at Manitou Elementary School.
“It was in the second grade and our teacher had us do a still life. It was shown at the MAC (Manitou Art Center), and I won Best in Show,” Gonzales said. “I was eight, and at that time I really wanted to be a cartoon animator. I remember my mom saying, ‘You should be an artist, and then you can teach art.'”
Now 36, Gonzales has done exactly that.
After years of traveling from east to west, Gonzales reached significant milestones in both her education and career. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art, then taught art to children in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She later moved to California, where she received a Master of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute.
There’s a magical essence to Gonzales’ work. Her pieces feature fantastical elements – hybrid creatures intertwined with the natural landscapes she’s inhabited over the years, from desert to mountains to the coastlines of the Pacific Ocean.
Following the early challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gonzales returned to her hometown of Colorado Springs to care for her mother. With that return came a renewed commitment to painting.
“I returned to my love for painting, and I returned home,” Gonzales said.
The concept comes from trying to empower myself spiritually through all the things I’m grateful for. – Leah Gonzales
Three years later, Gonzales has channeled her personal journey into this exhibition – exploring themes of identity, caregiving, stepping into the role of matriarch, gratitude for nature, and creativity throughout it all.
“The show is about returning to Colorado and becoming a caretaker for my mom, while still being an artist and a lover of nature,” Gonzales said. “The concept comes from trying to empower myself spiritually through all the things I’m grateful for – the environment, this world, this earth – to help me navigate the transition into becoming the matriarch of my family.”
A showcase of Gonzales’ work in ceramics and painting, the exhibition includes both new pieces and selections from her personal archive, created over the past three years. Her ceramic pieces convey a kind of putrid whimsy, inviting viewers to interpret the hybrid creatures born of her imagination.
Her paintings are both intentional and dreamlike, featuring soft hues of pinks and purples. They reflect her personal life journey, her deep admiration for women, Colorado’s natural landscapes, and themes of goddesses and deities.
The show’s “centerpiece” is a massive acrylic painting on a large board that explores the female form and the role of women in the natural world.
Gonzales spoke to the power of women next to her painted female figure – depicted in deep blues, with the head of an alligator. “We [women] can see more and feel more. I think all women just have this third eye.”
Gonzales told the Bulletin she hopes the exhibition encourages viewers to reconnect with both the natural world and their inner selves – just as the creative process did for her.
“I want people to be able to celebrate their connection to nature – for those who are queer to find that multifaceted identity and make space for it. We don’t all have to fit into society’s box. I want people to feel safe and celebrate the little monsters in us all,” she said.
Gonzales’ exhibition, “Flowers Shall Grow, And I Am In Them,” opens June 6 at the Manitou Art Center’s Hagnauer Gallery (523 Manitou Ave.) and will be on display through the month.
