Today we’d like to introduce you to Morgan Leady.
Hi Morgan, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
When I was really young, I was not particularly drawn to any one thing but rather had interests in many different areas. As I got a little bit older, around the age of nine, I felt an inclination which turned into an adoration of art. I began by taking outside of school drawing lessons at nine and painting lessons at ten. However, I was convinced that I could not paint at the time and only took the lessons because it meant I could learn more about art in general, I realize now it was a privilege to be able to take those classes and I am extremely grateful. I quickly realized that art was something special and began a commission business at the age of ten. When I first started selling paintings, I was working at a small dining room table by myself in the summer. I would lay down newspaper all over the dining room and kitchen so I wouldn’t get paint everywhere and I would work from the time I woke up to the time my mom got home. My supplies and paintings soon outgrew the dining room, so for my eleventh birthday, I got to transform our downstairs into a studio. This is when I started painting more and more and realized, like everything, it comes with time and practice. By high school, my little business had grown and I was getting commissions from members in the community. Around this time, I was also volunteering and participating in contests put on by the local arts council. All of this led to me having a well-known name in my community, something that confounds me to this day! By the end of high school, I was doing murals and was able to save up to help buy some necessities purely through my commission business. Then I moved here, to Kansas City, and began school at KCAI. I stopped my commission business during the school year but opened up commissions one last time the summer after my freshmen year. I no longer have my commission business, but I am lucky to be able to have the time to focus on the art I want to make! Since being in school I have been slowly finding what I want to say and exploring my freedom. The environment I am a part of in KC is a lot different than the one I grew up in and getting used to the flow of the city has been challenging on its own, but it is exciting to be surrounded by so many artists! The past couple years I have been making work beginning with talking about childhood abuse and trauma, and as my work has grown, I have become a storyteller of sorts. I research and read many different stories and their symbolic significance. This development has led my paintings to become much more detailed and full of meaning, symbolically and narratively. I was fortunate to have my first solo show this past November at Nightjar here in KC called Poison Kisses, which was an amazing experience. Currently, I have one semester left at KCAI, and will continue writing and painting stories!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Life is always a little bumpy and we can’t always predict what will happen. Over the past four years of living in KC, I have had many personal struggles but also career struggles. It is difficult to make work when your life is at a low point but for me, it was important that I continued making something even if I didn’t like it, because it helped me understand what I did like. This past year has been the most important in finding my groove, or niche. But finding what to say and how to say it are not the only struggles that exist for artists. Art politics is a whole other spectrum on its own. Finding ways to successfully put yourself/your work out there and what it means to advocate for yourself. These are things I am still learning about and still often hot roadblocks but I slowly becoming accustomed to how things proceed in the art world.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Hello! I am Morgan Leady. I am an artist and maker currently living in Kansas City. I specialize in acrylic painting, but will often make works that don’t involve paint at all like my knit pieces or drawings. I consider myself more of a storyteller than anything. I love reading and if I am not painting that is probably what I am doing. Reading has influenced my art greatly and has inspired me to tell stories of my own! I make painted stories and written stories focusing on fantastical, mythical, and surrealist elements. So far, my painted stories have revolved around childhood nostalgia, however, I am moving more towards present happenings. My stories also come in the form of knit pieces, which I view as a self-portraits or logs of my life. Each section of the knit is associated with one memory or another, creating an autobiography of sorts. My practice is really about keeping someone engaged. Stories are something I have always loved and I want to create a story that others feel drawn to.
Some of my favorite books:
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Crescent City: House of Blood and Earth by Sarah J. Maas
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Alice by Christina Henry
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
That you have to fight for yourself. No one knows what you want unless you ask for it, it is important to advocate for yourself and your work. Do not hold back in any way when it comes to your work, whether it is making it or promoting it, or simply fighting for space, and do not let anyone tell you that you are taking up too much space, ever.
Contact Info:
- Email: molase.art@yahoo.com
- Website: https://morganleady.wixsite.com/my-site
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morgan.leady/
