Leslie Samuels:
I moved from N.Y.C. in October of 1999. In New York, I was engaged professionally as a conceptual sculptor, theatrical producer and lighting designer. I currently live in Lake Toxaway, NC.

Here in the Appalachians, I have retrained myself as a professional tile installer, a field that has led me to a new outlet in sculpture. Now, I am wonderfully enamored with stone. Looking at a slab of marble, granite, travertine or slate, I see the movement of elements, the history of eons, the transformation of earth, and the geology of time. There is something spiritual about working with slices of mountains, something romantic in considering their distant, exotic origins.

I consider nuances of color, texture, and veining direction, as I choose where and how to cut the stone. My designs are animated and alive, hand drawn on the rock without patterns or stencils. Being cut one at a time, no two are alike. They are custom designed to fit each application to order. My talent lies in my ability to combine materials of differing inherent characteristics into a fluid, rhythmic, dynamic, whole. The stones speak to each other.

More than surface decoration, my work is an enduring sculpture, crafted from nature with tenderness.

Born in Erie, PA. 1963
M.F.A. 1989- The University of California, San Diego.
B.F.A. 1986- The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
1981-1983- The Cleveland Institute of Art.