My work can best be described as representational fabric collage. Although I am moved by the beauty of nature, I am most inspired by the people around me.
A former photographer, my work begins with photographs I take of strangers, unaware of the camera, caught in those unremarkable and familiar moments that pass without notice or reflection. Backgrounds and environments are less important than the expressive body language that tells us so much about these people we have never met. Viewers are invited to bring their own life experience to the story in each art quilt.
I use only commercially available cotton fabric, building the complexity of the image with a layering of unexpected patterns. I pay as much attention to the “value” of the fabrics I choose as their color. The pieces are constructed in raw edge machine appliqué, freeing me from tedious piecing and allowing the fraying and puckering that is the inherent characteristic of fabric.
_____________________________________________
Leni teaches classes and workshops, and her work has been included in many juried and invitational shows around the world. She is a professional artist member of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates).
Professional Resume
EXHIBITIONS:
2012/2013 (scheduled)
- International Quilt Festival; Cincinnati, Ohio
- International Quilt Festival; Long Beach, California
- Morris Museum; Morristown, New Jersey
- Everhart Museum; Scranton, Pennsylvania
- Wausau Museum; Wisconsin
- Grant’s Pass Museum of Art; Grant’s Pass, Oregon
- William & Florence Schmidt Art Center; Belleville, Illinois
2011
- Text on Textiles; International Quilt Market and Festival; Houston, Texas
- International Quilt Festival; Cincinnati, Ohio
- Quilter’s Newsletter Corporate Gallery; Golden, Colorado
- International Quilt Festival; Long Beach, California
2010
- Longmont Museum; Longmont, Colorado
- International Quilt Market and Festival; Houston, Texas
- Stories in Stitches; solo show at New Rochelle Public Library, New Rochelle, New York
2009
- Clay Cloth Connection: artworks by Eileen Braun and Leni Levenson Wiener; Vessels Gallery, Boston
- Form, Not Function; Carnegie Center, New Albany, Indiana
- “TIQE 2009″ Taiwan International Quilt Exhibition; Tainan City, Taiwan
- Photo-Inspired Art Quilts; Solo show; Oresman Gallery/Larchmont Public Library, Larchmont, New York
- Hanging by a Thread; Westchester Arts Council; White Plains, New York
2008
- Quilts=Art=Quilts; Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, New York
- IQA World of Beauty; International Quilt Market and Festival, Houston, Texas
- SAQA: Sense of Time; International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas
- Art Quilt Elements; Wayne Arts Center, Wayne, Pennsylvania
- Up In Stitches; Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, Kentucky
- A Tear in the Fabric; California Polytechnic State University Art Gallery, San Luis Obispo, California
- Fiberart for a Cause to benefit the American Cancer Society
2007
- Tactile Architecture; International Quilt Market and Festival, Houston, Texas
- National Small Art Quilt Works; Main Street Gallery Groton, New York
- Fiber Force, California
- Quilt Expo, Wisconsin
- Art Quilts XII; Chandler Center for the Arts, Arizona
PUBLICATIONS:
Books:
2011
- 3-Fabric Quilts, Krause/F&W
- The Best of Quilting Arts: Ultimate Your Resource for Art Quilt Techniques and Inspiration (featured), Interweave Press
2009
- Photo-inspired Art Quilts, Krause/F&W
2007
- Thread Painting, Krause
Articles:
2012 (scheduled)
- Quilters Newsletter Magazine, December/January 2012 Sightlines profiled in Reader’s Quilt Show
- SAQA Journal: Mentorship, Spring
2011
- Arte Patchwork Magazine, article featuring the Sightlines exhibition, March
- SAQA Journal: Finding your voice—10 things to think about, Winter
- SAQA Journal: Applying for professional membership, Spring
- SAQA Journal: Derivative Art, summer
- SAQA Journal: Writing an Artist Statement, Fall
- Quilting Arts In Stitches Emag Unravel the Secrets of Thread Sketching, May
2010
- SAQA Journal, Reflections on the first year of the PAM Review Committee, Fall
- Fabric Trends Magazine, Color and the mood it sets in your traditional and art quilts, June
- Quilting Arts Magazine, Creating complex figures in Fabric, Fall/winter