Leah Probst
Leah Probst is a Toronto-based Canadian artist who grew up in Caledon, Ontario in a creative family. As her passion for making art grew, she began to focus on acrylic painting and soft pastel drawing using people and animals as her subjects. Probst went on to post-secondary school at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario where she completed her Advanced Diploma in Fine Arts. After graduation, she continued her studies at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD U) to complete her Bachelor of Fine Arts. Probst has exhibited and sold multiple original works in art shows in galleries throughout North America. Her work mainly focusing on portraits and figures in a heightened realistic style. Probst believes that a painting should tell a story, allowing each viewer to slow down and see the beauty it brings – for each individual to take away a unique experience shared with the work of art.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
My work explores creative expression by combining figurative painting with texture, movement and experimentation of different mediums. Working mainly in acrylic and oil paint, I convey the meaning, story, and visual inspiration behind each work.
I aim to capture the physical likeness and the uniqueness of the individual. I convey clarity and honesty to the portrait, inviting the viewer to appreciate the fundamentals of the subject. I reveal the individual, looking beyond the surface toward the human condition with empathy to the personal connection I have with each subject I paint. The evident slowness in my paintings acknowledge attention paid to the layering of information, built-up levels of paint, and a complexity of mixed colours which bring the paintings to life.
Leah Probst is a Toronto-based Canadian artist who grew up in Caledon, Ontario in a creative family. As her passion for making art grew, she began to focus on acrylic painting and soft pastel drawing using people and animals as her subjects. Probst went on to post-secondary school at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario where she completed her Advanced Diploma in Fine Arts. After graduation, she continued her studies at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD U) to complete her Bachelor of Fine Arts. Probst has exhibited and sold multiple original works in art shows in galleries throughout North America. Her work mainly focusing on portraits and figures in a heightened realistic style. Probst believes that a painting should tell a story, allowing each viewer to slow down and see the beauty it brings – for each individual to take away a unique experience shared with the work of art.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
My work explores creative expression by combining figurative painting with texture, movement and experimentation of different mediums. Working mainly in acrylic and oil paint, I convey the meaning, story, and visual inspiration behind each work.
I aim to capture the physical likeness and the uniqueness of the individual. I convey clarity and honesty to the portrait, inviting the viewer to appreciate the fundamentals of the subject. I reveal the individual, looking beyond the surface toward the human condition with empathy to the personal connection I have with each subject I paint. The evident slowness in my paintings acknowledge attention paid to the layering of information, built-up levels of paint, and a complexity of mixed colours which bring the paintings to life.
$3,500.00
Oil on canvas.
36x48"
From the time I chose to leave my life behind and go on tour I knew I was going to create artwork about my experience. I had no idea it would be a series of the clown at the time, yet here they are. In this particular painting I combined the traditional clown with the modern touch of the magic behind the show by exposing the in-ear headpiece hanging around his shoulders. This painting was much more about the show, the makeup, the character rather than the situation of the global pandemic that took such meaning in my later work.
$3,500.00
Oil on canvas.
36x48"
The underlying inspiration for this piece was the history of the circus as the show Corteo is based so heavily on the traditional circus. Performers who worked in shows like these were of course historically marginalized and vulnerable people. This character has been always romanticized, but the history is a troubled one too. The viewer is able to read his sorrowful face and honor the strong and passionate lifestyle of a clown who is losing hold of his very profession, which has a very long and very complicated history. Clown paintings in themselves carry with them the unfortunate association of non-serious 'kitch' art, however my work is the exact opposite as it was created from very serious and unfortunate real life events – loss of work due to the global pandemic.
$3,500.00
Oil on canvas.
36x48"
This was the final piece of the body of work. I was painting him as the talk of Cirque becoming bankrupt became the biggest threat to the cast, crew, and entire company. The intention for my painting was to portray the beautiful Clown as strong and hopeful. juxtaposing his clown attire. I believe this exact emotion is what washed over the many faces and hearts of the artists as they received the news of the company-wide furlough.
$3,500.00
Oil on canvas.
36x48"
The importance of this painting falls on the context of the story behind it. From the first time I saw the Cirque Du Soleil show – Corteo, I was drawn to this character. Little did I know at the time I would end up spending a year watching this very show 3-4 times a week. No matter how many times I watched it, the "White Clown" never seized to mesmerize me, holding my gaze in every act. For the White Clown, appearances are what matters most. He is an authority figure that represents tradition and order. Of all the colourful characters, he admires only the stars and scorns the others. He is the one who opens the door to the magic of the circus. Off stage was when the human behind the character of the white clown reviled himself. Marcello radiated love, sympathy, hope, and joy. In this painting my intentionality was to mould Marcello and White Clown’s personalities together, becoming a proper, yet kind-eyed clown while exposing his authentic humanity.
This is my favourite painting of the series.