Artist Statement
My work investigates fashion as a form of social identity — a language we wear to express who we are, where we come from, and how we move through the world. I explore this theme across multiple disciplines: painting, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, and video. Each piece is a meditation on style as both surface and substance.
In my paintings, I create oil portraits of models dressed in garments made from real fabric or collaged clothing, transforming the traditionally flat canvas into a hybrid space — part painting, part object. My sculptural work, particularly in ceramics, extends this exploration into three dimensions, drawing on the tactile nature of clothing and its relationship to the body. Through video, I examine how fashion operates in broader cultural and social contexts, revealing its power to shape identity, performance, and perception.
I’m especially interested in how fashion reflects shifting values — how it signals our moods, our ambitions, our place in time. One outfit can communicate confidence, another shyness; what we wear can mark status, rebellion, or belonging. Fashion changes with the seasons, but it also responds to deeper currents: celebrity culture, body politics, economic structures. The desire to emulate what we see in magazines or on social media is more than trend-following — it’s aspirational, intimate, and often fraught.
At the same time, fashion is art. Designers craft singular, visionary pieces that rival sculpture in their craftsmanship and imagination. These creations may only be worn by a few, but their impact ripples widely, influencing how we dress and how we dream.
Through my work, I aim to reveal the layers of meaning embedded in what we wear — the personal, the political, and the poetic. Fashion, to me, is more than style. It is a mirror, a mask, and a map.
Biography
Leslie Plimpton is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist whose work centers on the figure and the enduring influence of fashion. Whether through painting, printmaking, or sculpture, her practice explores fashion as a marker of identity, self-expression, and cultural commentary.
Plimpton began her formal art education at Ventura College in 1999 before transferring to California State University, Channel Islands, where she earned a B.A. in Fine Art in 2007. Her studies have continued through workshops with prominent artists and institutions, including Huihan Liu at Fechin Studios in Taos, New Mexico; master printmaker Xavier Fumat at GEMINI G.E.L.; Linda Taylor at Spotted Dog Studio; and Julia Ayres, author of Monotype: Mediums and Methods for Painterly Printmaking. Influential mentors include the late Carlyle Cooper and Hiroko Yoshimoto, whose teachings helped shape her approach to painting.
In her mixed-media portraits, Plimpton often combines oil or acrylic paint with collaged fabric and real garments, creating textured, dimensional works that blur the line between painting and object. Her printmaking practice — primarily monotypes, linocuts, and drypoint etchings — features portraits of fashion designers and models, furthering her exploration of fashion’s role in shaping social identity.
A juried member of the Ojai Studio Artists and the Santa Barbara Art Association, Plimpton was also accepted into the Santa Barbara Printmakers in 2011 and has exhibited with the Inkspots of San Buenaventura for over a decade. Her sculptural work focuses on ceramic shoes — playful, stylized forms that continue her conversation with fashion in three dimensions — and has been recognized with multiple merit awards from the Buenaventura Art Association.
Her work is held in private collections across the United States.
Education
2007 BA Studio Art, Gamma Beta Phi Honor Society
California State University, Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA
1999-2006 Ventura College, Ventura, CA
1986-89 Columbia College, Film/Video Program, Chicago, IL
WORKSHOPS
Printmaking
GEMINI G.E.L., Xavier Fumat, instructor, Los Angeles, CA
Spotted Dog Studio, Linda Taylor, instructor, Ojai, CA
Phyllis Doyen Studio, Julia Ayres, instructor, Camarillo, CA
With Michael McCabe, Master Printmaker, Santa Fe, NM
With Ron Pokrasso, Master Printmaker, Santa Fe, NM
With Art Werger, Master Printmaker, Ohio
Painting
Fechin Studios, Huihan Liu, instructor, Taos, NM
Awards
2022 Judge’s Award, Ventura County Fair, Ventura, CA
2019 Honorable Mention, 82nd Annual Santa Paula Art & Photography Open Juried Competition, Santa Paula, CA
2019 3rd Place, Buenaventura Art Association Open Competition, Ventura County Museum, Ventura, CA
2018 Honorable Mention, 32nd Annual Open Competition, Buenaventura Art Association, Ventura, CA
Memberships
Juried member of Ojai Studio Artists
Juried member of Santa Barbara Printmakers
Juried member of Santa Barbara Art Association
the inkspots of San Buenaventura
Exbihitions
2025
“Ojai Visions,” Ojai Studio Artists,
Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, Ojai, CA“Fashionistas 2025,” Juror: Manon Thibodot, Curatorial Projects Officer,
Centre Pompidou, Paris, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art,
Santa Ana, CAJuried Member Exhibition, Santa Barbara Printmakers, Vita Art Center, Ventura, CA
Second Saturday Open Studio, Ojai Studio Artists, Ojai, CA
2024
“Salon,” Ojai Studio Artists,
Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, Ojai, CASecond Saturday Ojai Studio Artists Tour, Ojai, CA
Buenaventura Art Association 35th Open Competition, Ojai Art Center, Ojai, CA
“Inside/Outside/Flipside,” Ojai Studio Artists, Ojai Valley Museum, Ojai, CA
Ojai Studio Artists Tour, Ojai, CA
“Visual Dialogue,” Inkspots of San Buenaventura, 643 Project Space, Ventura, CA
2023
“Insights,” Ojai Studio Artists, Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, Ojai, CA
Second Saturday Open Studio, Ojai Studio Artists, Ojai, CA
“Turning Corners,” Ojai Studio Artists, Ojai Valley Museum, Ojai, CA
Invitation Only - 11th Biennial International Printmaking Exhibition, Douro Museum,
Douro, PortugalOpen Studio, Ojai Studio Artists, Ojai, CA
Pop Up Print Sale, Santa Barbara Printmakers, Community Arts Workshop, Santa Barbara, CA
5x5, Westmont College Celebrating 85 Years, Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art,
Santa Barbara, CA
2022
“Ojai Visions,” Ojai Studio Artists, Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, Ojai, CA
Second Saturday Open Studio, Ojai Studio Artists Tour, Ojai, CA
Ventura County Fair, Ventura, CA - Judge’s Award in Professional Artists Category
“Perception and Persistence,” Ojai Studio Artists, Ojai Valley Museum, Ojai, CA
Open Studio, Ojai Studio Artists, Ojai, CA
“Printing with Passion,” Inkspots of San Buenaventura, 643 Project Space, Ventura, CA
Pop Up Print Sale, Santa Barbara Printmakers, Community Arts Workshop, Santa Barbara, CA
2021
“Finding Light,” Ojai Studio Artists, Ojai Valley Museum, Ojai, CA
Open Studio, Ojai Studio Artists Tour, Ojai, CA
“Rolling On,” the Inkspots, 643 Project Space, Ventura, CA
Second Saturday Open Studio, Ojai Studio Artists, Ojai, CA
Pop Up Print Sale, Santa Barbara Printmakers, Community Arts Workshop, Santa Barbara, CA
2020
“Mending the Divide,” Ojai Studio Artists, Museum of Ventura County, Ventura, CA
“Paper,” Open Juried Show, SBTC, Santa Barbara, CA
“Legacy: Seven Decades of Ventura College Art,” Museum of Ventura County, Ventura, CA
“I Love You Madly,” Solo Exhibition, Gallery 113, Santa Barbara, CA
Open Studio, Ojai Studio Artists Tour, Ojai, CA
“Art of the Printmaker,” Juried Open Competition, Carpinteria Arts Center, Carpinteria, CA
“Insight 20/20,” Ojai Studio Artists, Ojai Valley Museum, Ojai, CA
“Celebrating Ten Years,” Online Art Exhibition & Fundraiser, Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
2019
Buenaventura Art Association Open Competition, Ventura County Museum, Ventura, CA
Santa Barbara Printmakers Members Exhibition, Faulkner Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
82nd Annual Santa Paula Art & Photography Open Juried Competition, Santa Paula Public Library, Santa Paula, CA
Santa Barbara Art Association, Juried Show, Faulkner Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
Solo Show - “Portraits in Fashion,” 610 Arts Collective Gallery, Ridgway, Colorado
“Under Pressure,” 12th Annual Inkspots of San Buenaventura Show, 643 Project Space, Ventura, CA
Santa Barbara Art Association, Holiday Show, Faulkner Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Barbara Art Association, New Member Show, Faulkner Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2018
32nd Annual Open Competition, Buenaventura Art Association, Ventura, CA
(Award of Honorable Mention)“Paper,” Open Juried Competition, SBTC, Santa Barbara, CA
81st Annual Santa Paula Art & Photography Open Juried Competition,
Santa Paula Public Library, Santa Paula, CA“Stories,” Buenaventura Art Association Open Competition, Ventura, CA
“Sweet Fifteen,” CSUCI Alumni Exhibition, California State University, Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA
Print Power Exhibition, The Community Arts Workshop, Santa Barbara, CA
“Press On,” the Inkspots, 643 Project Space, Ventura, CA
Santa Barbara Printmakers Members Exhibition, Ojai Art Center, Ojai, CA
2017
Buenaventura Art Association, 31st Annual Open Competition, Ventura, CA
80th Santa Paula Art & Photography Open Juried Show, Santa Paula Public Library,
Santa Paula, CASanta Barbara Printmakers Juried Spring Exhibition, Santa Barbara Jewish Community Center, Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Barbara Printmakers Members Exhibition, Faulkner Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
10th Anniversary Exhibition, the Inkspots, 643 Project Space, Ventura, CA
2016
“There is me,” The Artists’ Union Juried Show, 643 Project Space, Ventura, CA
Annual Exhibition, the Inkspots, 643 Project Space, Ventura, CA
Art at the JCC, Santa Barbara Printmakers Juried Exhibition, Jewish Federation,
Santa Barbara, CAMembers Only Exhibition, Santa Barbara Printmakers, Faulkner Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2015
“Impressions,” an invitation-only show, Ventura County Government Center, Ventura, CA
The Inkspots, Santa Barbara Tennis Club, Santa Barbara, CA
Selected Solo Works, Leslie Jean Porter Gallery, Palm Springs, CA
Santa Barbara Printmakers Members Only Exhibit, Faulkner Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
“Inklings,” the Inkspots, 643 Project Space, Ventura, CA