Artist mixes old, new

By Amanda Thorogood

Digital artist Jacquelyn Leebrick lectured to students and faculty about “The Evolution of a Body of Artwork” in Sweigart auditorium, Monday, Oct. 24.

Leebrick, a professor at East Carolina University’s School of Art and Design, projected her painted, superimposed and digitally created pieces of work for the audience to see. She gave a detailed explanation on her inspiration for each piece as well as the technique she used to achieve it.

“Photography and memory is the thread going through all my work,” Leebrick said.
The event, which was sponsored by the Multicultural Center, The Department of Communication and The Department of Fine Arts inspired many audience members to pick up a camera of their own.

“I really liked the work with the postcards and the photos imposed on one another,” said freshman Megan Wilityer.

She was referring to Leebrick’s Postcards From Russia and Alstonia series where the photograph from the front of a postcard purchased in Russia was superimposed on the back, written portion of the card, as well as on photographs she’d taken while vacationing there.

“Now I want to buy Photoshop,” Wilityer said.

Leebrick, who has studied photobased media for more than 25 years, began working exclusively with digital art in the mid ‘90s. She uses family photographs, images of decay and keys representing the unlocking of a memory as the concepts for her pieces. She layers images many times to form collages that capture her point.

Leebrick chose to work mainly with digital photography because she feels the collages allow time and memory to overlap.

“My art seeks to recapture something I’ve lost, something just out of reach,” Leebrick said.