Dene Leigh

Dene Leigh’s practice investigates neurological impairment and the fragility of human memory. Through painting, sculpture and drawing, the artist’s work endeavors to make sense of his grandfather’s difficulty with memory following a stroke. After experiencing life with the consequences of the stroke for several years, the artist’s grandfather passed away. Soon after, the abrupt passing of the artist’s mother generated an urge to grasp the memories and fleeting moments associated with those who are most important to him.

Faceless figures, illegible lettering and ambiguous objects, are recurrent images that explore three of the barriers to the artist’s grandfather’s everyday life that shook the artist the most. The barriers caused the inability to grasp language in its written and spoken form and rendered once familiar faces and objects unrecognizable. 

The artist’s body of work embodies the fragility of human memory and the desire to acknowledge and record those he has and has not met. The artist continually documents recollections of those dearest to him with themes of the barriers that his grandfather faced. In doing so, the work tries to glimpse through the eyes of the artist’s grandfather, whilst solidifying the short-lived moments associated with the human memory and the ultimate decay of everything around us.

The artist lives and works in London.