‘Ice Pact: exterior and Interior landscapes’

”I discovered the glaciers are an emblem of a life-long legacy of love, not just a fabled relic to be referenced in future history books, but a part of our world, entirely worthy of a sparkling celebration right now.”
- Leah Cupino

A limited number of paintings and commissions each year from this series are considered by the artist. Inquire for more information.

‘Terra Nullius - No Man’s Land’

August 2022
Margie Wilkins Gallery of the Lewistown Art Center, Lewistown MT
Artist Talk, 6pm August 29, 2022

In this most recent developing series, glaciers from mountains nearby have become Leah’s most massive models to explore.
She became

” …fascinated by them: stuck in one place through seasons of give and take, and proudly self-sacrificial for the beings living in the valleys. I use luscious abstraction and a selection of symbols from our natural world to navigate the deeply personal contracts I and the world have made. ”‍ ‍

Themes of immersion, impulse, exquisite contract, give and take, and fate and glittering legacy ride through her work. At this date, Leah has nearly worked through the full list of glaciers of Montana, her current home state. Next she will move onto studying those in nearby states.

‘Storm Trickle Bloom’

April - June, 2021
The Myrna Loy’s Jailhouse Gallery, Helena, Montana
Artist Talk, April 9 2021

In this first small sampling preview of her glacier-centric series, Leah simplifies a complex eco-system, maintaining awe in miniature watercolor sketches.
She began this arm-chair travel series at home during the initial COVID-19 lockdown with her school-age children, and plans to expand many of the tiny works into large paintings in the future.
Along with her work, the stormy watercolors of DD Dowden and wistful works of Janelle DeBray are also on display.

Artist’s Statement/Story:

There is a delicate balance between a deeply generous community spirit and the necessity of self-preservation that is embodied in the glaciers’s own story of existence and that of our own.
From the start of this series, I saw this as the distinct challenge as I, and many of us, wrestled with concepts of demise and cooperation during the very early days of the 2020 pandemic lockdown.

What would the world look like without humans on it? The news showed us the unsettling views of desolate city streets. In contrast, I found the helicopter views of icy mountaintops more comforting; people don’t really belong there. The glaciers can be visited for a hot minute in the summer while they provide us the melt-water we need in the valleys below. In the quiet of the cold season without us they have a chance to replenish.

I thought about what it meant to sacrifice, and what I could sacrifice for those I love, for my own community and humanity’s greater good. I reflected on my own experience as a kid, part of a pastor’s family, relocated frequently as though a ‘soldier for Jesus’. Every few years we would pack up our belongings, say our goodbyes, and set out to strengthen another church community. This cycle of pairing-down and establishing again gave me a treasured opportunity for re-invention that I regularly employ in my studio practice.

At the family table as an adult, I found another ritual of travel. I carefully packed each subject into a small square on my paper. My goal was to pack myself down to the essentials, experience some quiet, and emerge one day renewed and refreshed to give again. Each portrait of a glacier contains a great deal of love, a balance of give and take, and an opportunity to grow one day into a giant impactful painting.

For me, the glaciers are an emblem of a life-long legacy of love, not just a fabled relic mentioned in future history books after they disappear, but a part of our world, entirely worthy of a sparkling celebration right now.