Gallery at Somes Sound | Luis Montoya, Leslie Ortiz
Luis Montoya and Leslie Ortiz create monumental versions of fruit, vegetables, shells, and mollusks cast in bronze. Their sculptures derive from two art historical traditions: the still-life genre and trompe l’oeil (fool-the-eye) naturalism. Their sculptures exude a sensuous quality and are intermixed with illusions of varying textures such as rope, palm fronds, wicker and sticks. Well-engineered, these sensitive observations of nature are visually engaging and arresting in their beauty and carefully carved details.
Montoya studied at the School of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, came to the States, and completed post graduate studies at Kent State University in 1972. Ortiz received her bachelor of fine arts degree in sculpture from Boston University in 1979, then furthered her studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Amsterdam, Holland. In 1995 they began collaboratively making bronze sculpture and are equal partners in the creative process. Montoya and Ortiz now are based out of Southern Florida.
