Contact email: LeahHamelArt@gmail.com

Artist bio

Leah M. Hamel is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and small business owner currently based in Birmingham, AL. Her work intertwines manmade and organic materials reflecting her concern and adoration for the environment. She was raised to appreciate nature by spending as much time outside as possible and continues to do so as a way to connect with the world beyond the “self”. Influenced by the places she has lived,  Birmingham, AL, Baton Rouge, LA, and Brno, CZ, her works wind together aspects of urban life and nature. Each of these cities is cradled or surrounded by unique geographic features, inevitably surfacing through imagery in Hamel’s constructions.

Hamel earned her MFA with honors from Louisiana State University where she was a Graduate Teaching Assistant in Sculpture and the Campus Exhibition Coordinator. She received her BFA from University of Alabama at Birmingham specializing in ceramics and sculpture with a minor in art history. Hamel’s sculptural work has been exhibited in notable museums and galleries including Wiregrass Museum, Corcoran Gallery, Morgan Conservatory, and the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans. Publications of her work include North American Handmade Paper Catalog, Mockingheart Review, and Hand Papermaking: Twenty First Century Papermakers.