About
Victoria Elisabeth Leighton (b. 1998, UK) is a recent MA Photography graduate based in St Albans and currently works as an Arts Assistant for University of Hertfordshire Arts + Culture. Her artistic practice is largely post-production based and challenges the expanding notion of photography in a fine art context. Fluidly moving between analogue and digital processes of photomontage in a continuous cycle of deconstruction and reconstruction; the work aims to explore the interconnections between analogue processes and digital technologies and the effect that they have on our visual perception of our surrounding environments, as well as our relationship to image making. The process begins by collecting both analogue and digital photographs of her local natural environment, specifically areas of significant and bold colour. Using neutral density filters and an intentional horizontal panning camera movement, these places are abstracted in-camera and become bands of pure colour and ambiguous forms. They are then printed onto paper using an inkjet printer or handprinted in the darkroom. She is most interested in the test prints and misprints, where they are disrupted by streaks, bleeding, blur, misalignment and the mistranslation of colour. These images, or shards of images, then undergo further abstraction through collage or the repurposing and misuse of a consumer grade flatbed scanner. The scanner acts as a tool, like the camera’s shutter, which allows her to further stretch and disrupt time. Two or three different geographical locations are merged together and manipulated through a set of physical performative actions during the scanning to stretch, compress, rotate and layer in a spontaneous and playful response to the colours and rhythmic natural forms– resulting in the creation of new and reimagined places.
Selected group shows
2023 (August 12th– October 7th), Letchworth Open 2023, Broadway Gallery, Letchworth Garden City, UK
2023 (July 15th– 29th), St Albans Art Trail, Transformation Pilates, St Albans, UK
2022 (September 10th– October 30th), Letchworth Open 2022, Broadway Gallery, Letchworth Garden City, UK
2022 (March 15th– April 14th), Process, Tebbs Contemporary Gallery, online exhibition
2021 (November 19th), Tied to Light Vol. 1 Zine Launch, AMP Gallery, London, UK
2021 (October 15th– November 14th), Surreal, Tebbs Contemporary Gallery, online exhibition
2021 (September 28th– tbc), Creative Ambition, University of Hertfordshire Creative Arts Postgraduate Degree Show, online exhibition
2021 (September 8th–16th), with:held, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK
2021 (August 23rd– 30th), Petri dish Project, Tebbs Contemporary Gallery, Spitalfields, London, UK
2021 (August 15th– September 14th), Petri dish Project, Tebbs Contemporary Gallery, online exhibition
2021 (August– tbc), City Summer Scapes (Pop-Up Public Art exhibition ft. local artists), Collective Gallery, St Albans City Centre, UK
2021 (July 30th– August 6th), VICE x Photobookcafe Student Open Call, Photobookcafe, London, UK
2021 (February 27th– March 7th), ATOPOS, The Holy Art, online exhibition
2021 (February 26th– tbc), 42,602,038+, Stay Connected, online exhibition
2020 (October 3rd– 31st), Hertford Art Trail, Designer Eyes, Hertford, UK
2019 (July 4th– 8th), FreeRange, Violet Lenses, The Old Truman Brewery, London, UK
2019 (May 22rd– 25th), University of Hertfordshire Degree Show, Perception of Being, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK
2019 (March 4th– 22nd), Out of Focus, Front Line Gallery, Todd Building, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK
2019 (January 22nd– February 2nd) Gestalt, Courtyard Arts Centre, Hertford, UK
2018 (January 29th–February 2nd) Made to Matter, Art and Design Gallery, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK
Features
2021 (coming soon) feature and interview in the Petri dish Project book and ebook with Tebbs Contemporary Gallery
2021 (November) feature in Tied to Light Vol. 1 zine with @tiedtolightcollective
2021 (September 16th) feature on Instagram @uhcreatives
2021 (September 16th) feature on Facebook @School of Creative Arts, University of Hertfordshire
2021 (March 14th) feature on Instagram @_Photograd with @tiedtolightcollective
2021 (February 27th) feature on Instagram @tiedtolightcollective
Education
2019– 2021 MA Photography at University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK
2016–2019 BA (Hons) Fine Art at University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK