About

Leslie Drennan is a sculptor and visual artist based in Chicago, Illinois. Her work negotiates the modern complexities of domestic life, investigating how our sense of self is shaped by the spaces we inhabit and the evolving stresses of contemporary society. Through sculptures, drawings, and installations, she pursues a dialogue between the personal and universal experiences of home. Her own difficulty with vulnerable expression is put on display as a means to combat a culture that remains closed to honest and true connection. Material collage aids her in representation of complex relationships, like mother to daughter, in a more nuanced way. In an increasingly individualistic culture, Leslie candidly explores her competing roles as a daughter, mother, partner, and friend.

By assembling and collaging different techniques and documents together, Leslie creates indexical patterns in each piece, using memory and sentiment for context. Material refuse is often used in the work to suggest the fragility of daily life. Her goal is to reimagine the myth she created about home as a child herself by traversing the emotional distance between her Southern, conservative upbringing and the intentionally contrasting life she is creating for herself and young family.


Leslie graduated with a BS in Psychology from the University of Georgia in 2016 and completed an MFA in Sculpture at Georgia State University in 2025. She was selected by the Welch Foundation at Georgia State to participate in a residency at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts in May of 2023 and her work has been exhibited across the country, including at the Atlanta Contemporary, Dalton Gallery at Agnes Scott College, Swan Coach House Gallery, Echo Contemporary Art, Eyedrum, Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, and Gallery One in Washington.