Leslie Lewis Sigler’s still life paintings of silver and copper heirlooms collect treasured family objects as families of objects. In Sigler’s work, an extensive collection of objects, histories, and emotional relations is brought vividly and suggestively to life. Each piece has its own unique story to tell, moments of polish and moments of tarnish. A series of portraits thus emerges whose enduring power and beauty reflect the depths of human character and the profound connectedness of shared history.
Domestic objects made of precious metals—flatware, vessels, molds, cutlery—have a kind of eternal life. They may age beyond recognition, but polishing them will soon recapture their original luster. Attending to the elegance of their form and the precision of their decorative flourishes, as well as to the play of light off their surfaces and even the shadows they cast, Sigler renders these singular objects in all their varied richness, elevating them beyond their mere functionality through a signature combination of near-photographic realism and painterly abstraction.
In this way, the work is about both aesthetic immediacy and symbolic significance. Just as Sigler herself is often reflected—visible, even if distorted—in the ever-changing patina of the cherished heirlooms she paints, so the objects come to reflect enduring and captivating histories. As they have been passed down from generation to generation and put to use at family gatherings, imagine all those who have been reflected in their gleam, brought together by the objects’ connecting force around the table. Or perhaps they were rediscovered at an estate sale or thrift shop, salvaged from the purgatory of resale, for new personal and family histories to be expressed. On the whole, Sigler’s paintings stand as invitations to see life reflected as part of an evolving lineage that crosses generations and geography, connecting us all through time and space.