Light Sculptures

When I began working with paper, wood, and light, I called my pieces “lanterns”. As my creativity and skills developed, I began to focus more on the sculptural aspect rather than the functional, and to create pieces that stand alone as works of art with the light on or off. My work reflects a fascination with how nature moves on graceful paths or organizes itself in flowing patterns. Why human consciousness contemplates this with joy is a delicious mystery to me. My task is to express and illuminate in ever more novel ways the swirl of texture in marble or wood grain, the evolving folds in flowers or seashells, the fluid patterns left on sea-swept sand. I strive to create beautiful forms that will invite people out of their mental busyness to see the timelessness in passing time. Human life, too, is a whirling dance of patterns within patterns’.

In 1976, William Leslie apprenticed to Stephen White, an architect who had developed a unique form of ‘lightsculpture’ made from thin strips of wood bent into a frame then covered with paper soaked in polyvinyl resin and internally by incandescent light bulbs. Most of William’s designs are inspired by natural forms.

William’s Lightsculptures have shown in Hawaii, Chicago and California. His work has been used on the stage of the American Musical Awards and in the film Star Trek: Generations. He’s been featured in the Dec. 2003 issue of The Robb Report and appeared on HGTV, the Carol Duvall Show episode #1618, since May 2004.

Recent commercial installations include Market Lofts downtown Los Angeles, Iron Wok China Bistro in Temecula and in San Ysidro, Stingaree, downtown San Diego, Bliss Restaurant in Beverly Hills, Zov’s Bistro in Irvine, Tustin and Newport Beach and Irvine Fine Arts Center.

In 2007, William’s wife Alessandra, an eclectic mixed-media artist and Expressive Arts Therapist, joined him in creating Lightsculptures, adding colors and exploring new possibilities.

One of William’s Lightsculptures was a finalist in the 2004 Spertus Museum (University of Judaism, Chicago) Competition for representing Ner Tamid, the Eternal Light, which is now powerfully and gracefully hanging as a symbolic beacon at Palomar Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Vista, CA. William’s work is available also at Mixture in Little Italy, Trios Gallery on North Cedros, and Gallery of Functional Art in Santa Monica – Bergamot Station.

William LeslieWilliam Leslie’s background includes degrees in physics and philosophy. He served as an infantry soldier in Vietnam and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in India. Presently, he teaches philosophy at Palomar College in the San Diego area, volunteers with Amnesty International and maintains a small studio in his home designing and producing “Lightsculptures” with his wife Alessandra for homes, restaurants, hospitals, businesses and religious institutions throughout the country.

Provided by the artist 10/2011

For more information about William’s light sculptures, please visit his website here.