Description
‘The Pileus Madonna’ by Lesley Thiel
Artist: Lesley Thiel
Title: ‘The Pileus Madonna’
Medium: Oil on panel
Dimensions: 23.6″ x 23.6″
Framing: Unframed
Year of Creation: 2023
About the Artwork:
“The Pileus Madonna explores the importance of fungi to life on earth, including our own species. A Pileus is the top of a gilled mushroom. Fungi interconnect so much in nature. They help trees talk to and support each other. They break down dead materials, and without them we would be buried under mountains of detritus that had failed to rot. They are responsible for soil health. And we use them, of course, as a food source: both the inkcaps and puffballs shown in the painting are edible. They also provide us with potent psychoactive drugs, so I have painted magic mushrooms on the arm of the Madonna. But, as with anything in nature, they can also be dangerous. So, the halo of the Madonna is the underside of a death cap, the most poisonous of all mushrooms.” – Lesley Thiel
About the Artist:
(Artist Bio)
Lesley Thiel is a self taught figurative artist known for her highly detailed photorealistic paintings. Working in oils, her pieces focus on narrative portraiture, surrealism, and magical realism. Her paintings contain imagery designed to express her thoughts on the fate of our species, and on our relationship with the earth in the face of man-made climate change. She uses the symbolism associated with plants and animals to communicate her fears for the future of life on our planet, and as a sign of hope for our collective survival. Her paintings speak of the strength of the upcoming generation of young women and girls who may well be our saviors. She questions the accepted narrative of the female voice in society and the myths attached to this.
Lesley’s work has been included in numerous exhibitions, including at the Museum of Modern European Art (MEAM), Barcelona; Wassau Museum of Contemporary Art; The Mall Galleries, London; The Salmagundi Club; RJD Gallery, New York; Terminal 5 Heathrow (as part of the Olympic Celebrations); Zhou B Art Center. She has received a Certificate of Excellence from the Portrait Society of America, and multiple awards from the Art Renewal Center. Her work is part of both the Art Renewal Center Collection, and the Bennett Collection. Born in England, she now lives and works in North Carolina.