Mark Leavens Art 

 My work explores the layered experience of living in Louisiana as an outsider. Drawing from personal memory, cultural symbolism, and everyday observations, I create paintings, sculptures, and installations that merge the familiar and unfamiliar. I’m mentally mapping the place I reside and how I’m trying to process information as I’m visually multitasking. I often use repeated motifs like storm clouds, regional foods, signage, and familiar animals to map a landscape that is shifting, strange, and intimate. The compositions feel mixed together and uncanny—pieced together like a place that resists being pinned down.

 

Through this work, I invite viewers to navigate a South that is fragmented, fragile, and deeply alive. ​I am an artist, educator, and collaborator committed to exploring the beauty in everyday life through creative work that invites curiosity, connection, and care. Whether I’m painting a Southern sky, building with reclaimed wood, or guiding others through the creative process, I strive to make art that’s accessible, rooted in place, and full of meaning. My mission is to use my hands, heart, and skills to build physical and emotional spaces where people feel seen, inspired, and encouraged to learn about the beauty of making.