Jessica LEigh
I make work about our relationship with the natural world.
The beauty of it, and the tension we've mostly agreed, collectively, not to look at too directly.
There's a contradiction sitting at the heart of almost everything I do.
We are so utterly dependent on the natural world and we are also, quietly, relentlessly, undermining it.
That discomfort doesn't go away once you've noticed it.
I've stopped trying to resolve it.
Instead I keep returning to it, through my work.
Pieces that feel calm on the surface & carry something more unsettled underneath.
A kind of stillness that holds a deep and heavy weight.
That way of thinking didn't come from nowhere by the way.
Before all of this, I worked in a corporate science role.
Drawn in by the values of it, the idea that the work meant something.
Over time, that connection eroded & I left.
I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking for, but I knew it needed to be slower, more honest, more grounded in something real.
Coming back to nature gave me a different kind of clarity.
Not the data-led kind I'd been trained in, but something quieter.
I started noticing things again.
The way systems balance, the way species adapt, how quickly and imperceptibly that balance can shift.
The science didn't disappear.
It just changed shape.
I spend a lot of time outside.
Witnessing, gathering, collecting.
The coastline is a source and a reminder.
Of scale, of rhythm, of change.
It's a place of genuine beauty, but it's also a place of evidence.
Of what's been left behind.
What's been altered.
What continues regardless.
My paintings work through texture, tone & movement. Trying to capture something of the sea, not as a fixed image, but as a living & shifting system.
My linoprints take a more direct approach: individual marine species, captured as something symbolic & bold, each one tied to a story about the coast & what's happening to it.
My seaweed prints are made with materials I forage from UK shores myself, each shaped as much by what I found as what I made.Across all of it, the question I keep coming back to is attention.
What are we actually noticing?
What are we choosing not to?
There's a lot of beauty in the natural world that functions, quietly, as evidence… if you're willing to sit with it long enough to let it land.
That's what I'm trying to make.
Work that holds both things at once.
That you can live with for years & keep finding something in.
If you'd like to get in touch, or follow along when there's something worth saying, my mailing list is the best place.
I only turn up in your inbox when it actually feels worth it.
Now I'm back on the North East coast of England, and the landscape is central to how I think and work and live.
Events and Exhibitions
2026
Urban Art Fair, Brixton, London (July)
2025
Urban Art Fair, Brixton, London
North Yorkshire Open Studios
Redcar Affordable Art Exhibition
Middlesborough Art Week
Tangled Currents, Solo Show (as North Sea Daughters), Middlesbrough
2024
New Artist Fair - Old Truman Brewery, London
BRIGHT - Duo exhibition, Stockton
Stockton International Riverside Festival
The BIG Art Festival
Redcar Summer Exhibition - performance
Redcar Affordable Art Exhibition
2023
Pineapple Black - Summer Exhibition
Artist Statement
Jessica Leigh explores how our interactions with the environment shape and transform it. She uses colour and texture to evoke feelings and emotion from the viewer, inviting them to appreciate the natural world and the complexity of humanities impact on it. Being outdoors is an integral part of her practice, providing both inspiration and clarity. These moments in nature allow her to step away from the busyness of daily life, a pause she seeks to offer through her work. Her art encourages stillness, empathy, and a deeper appreciation for the wild wonders that surround us. By reflecting on our impact on the environment, she aims to ignite both a sense of responsibility and of awe, prompting viewers to recognise and cherish the quiet miracles in their own lives and advocate for those without the voices to do so. Jessica has exhibited work across the UK, including Middlesbrough Art Week and Brixton's Urban art fair.
