Leah Macmillan

Leah is a Scottish multi-disciplinary artist based in Glasgow who focusses on tactility and materiality to create artwork which is inclusive of the blind and partially sighted community. She works with a wide range of media such as textiles, felt, wood, insulation foam, toothpaste, glue, plaster, silicone, sand etc. Leah’s main influence is her Nana, who was a keen painter but was registered blind at old age and was unable to experience art the way she once could; this inspired Leah to create work that could be experienced in alternative ways other than visually. It is vital in Leah’s practice that her work is a space where blind people can physically engage with the work which is typically prohibited in a typical art gallery setting.

Influenced by organic forms and nature, Leah creates abstract artworks focusing on texture, tactility and sensibility using a range of materials and mediums in an expressive, exploratory way. Leah works in a minimalist and raw color palette to allow for texture to be the pronounced focus of the work. Leah incorporates sound and smell to her work, using materials physically interacted with by the viewer as a source of sound, she uses essential oils mixed with mediums to create subtle smells, allowing for a multi sensory experience. The artwork strives to challenge the viewers to not rely on visual aesthetics and discover alternative ways of connecting and immersing one's self in art.