“Stephanie Leitch’s exhibit is a series of pieces that explores the landscape of the Salt Lake Valley, which is essentially very strong in LDS culture,” said Sarina Ehrgott, UMOCA’s marketing director. “Her work correlates to the mountains as well as the steeples that are in the valley.”
This presentation joins the UMOCA tradition of highlighting local artists. “We always have a local artist present in that gallery, and among the other galleries, we have a different mix of regional and international artists,” Ehrgott said.
For “Untitled Apogee,” Leitch offers a mixture of fabric, string and video projections to artistically explore the structure of a steeple and how its shape is a rising heavenward form. The exhibit’s inspiration comes from church steeple architecture and its unique properties.
“We think it’s important to find that urban foundation in contemporary art to bring to the Salt Lake Valley,” Ehrgott said.
Leitch’s creations also investigate both art and architecture and how they fit in Salt Lake City’s culture. Her installation incorporates 617 strings to represent the 617 churches. However, the construction takes the design of the steeple and inverts it. This opposes the upward and heavenly message noticed in the construction’s original foundation.
“Stephanie Leitch’s formal considerations for framing the shape emerged from the steeple points and their density in a proportional relationship to the gallery itself,” said Rebecca Maksym, UMOCA’s associate curator. “Her installation focuses on the bowl form of the Salt Lake Valley, making a conscious decision to stop at the point of the mountain before Utah Valley at the south and Ogden at the north. ‘Untitled Apogee’ reimagines the perimeter of the Salt Lake Valley, a boundary that is significant in a psycho-geographical sense of how culture and individuals are shaped by their physical environments.”
Leitch’s art work was chosen from among many submissions received by UMOCA every year.
“We have open submissions for artists who want their work to be shown here,” Ehrgott said. “Curators and a group of panelists will look through the art and choose artists based on how well their submissions correlate to other art in the museum.”
A U alumnus, Leitch received her BFA in Intermedia Sculpture in 2006. She will be speaking at UMOCA this Friday at the opening reception to her show.