Leah Mazza is an instructor at the University of Georgia. She earned her BFA from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and an MFA at the University of Georgia. She makes sculptures and drawings about identity, spirituality, and memories within a diminishing industrialized society.

Artist statement

My materials range from reconfigured found objects, such as discarded circuit boards and aged wires, and graphite drawings to traditional metal-smithing techniques in precious metals. Identity, portals, and memories are embedded in organic antennas, mysterious keys, tension-wrapped wire, and orifices, which become a lifeline between realms.

Memories are like seeds in the dark; they hold fertile grounds for change in an ever-evolving self. Childhood memories lie between a mossy creek behind my grandmother's house and industrial steel mills, trains, and brick alleyways in my hometown. Quiet moments were filled with solace, excitement, and wonder of the natural world. Over time, these memories and visually opposing landscapes became a single entity in my art. Fusing artificial structures with nature reflects the struggle to balance the disillusionment within my world and the search for interconnectedness.