Bio

2026 unveils the source of my melancholy—a lack of inspiration, the antithesis of optimism, and the void left by the absence of creativity.

I can ignore the pressure of the world, of aging, of my gray hairs springing up like daffodils, if I allow myself to gather in the meadows of wonder, confusion, and excitement. And to find that refuge, one must approach the world with playful agendas. How absolutely harrowing is it, to know that the population must go on working under capitalism, how we all find ourselves under this leaking roof of insecurity and shame. How privileged you are as an artist, let alone a lucrative one, to be able to acknowledge and access parts of ourselves that are connected to each other yet unbeknownst to them. The suppression of the arts is rooted in the fear that if the population realizes the inherent artistic nature within, a collective awakening to the ability to introspect and romanticize life would ensue.
The lifestyle of the artist is the lifestyle of the human being, people would figure out how to heal from within, and from the earth. The owners of the roofing company would never want us to fix our own roofs.

I want to use the tools that built this current society as agents of transformation, to find autonomy in the tool. Sand-blast the centuries of outdated tone-deaf rust off, to reveal something as simple as man-made machine, to use it, with the finesse of a woman’s soft supple hand. In the midst of dust and sweat, I reclaim my body, mind and soul. Fabrication is what showed me my truth. And it was a woman who showed me the way. It was a woman who trusted me and saw me, and the only thing she said to me was “put your hair up”.


Leah Graup received her BFA from Kutztown University in May of 2019. She now resides in Philadelphia, PA. Ever-changing, ever-evolving, creation, life, survival, money, city, humanity, the struggle, the journey, the product, the nature of it all. Writing, painting, drawing, documenting, observing, working, working.... working. and working.