In my recent paintings I am attempting to set up different painterly elements that play off of each other, creating rhythms, tensions and release. I often paint using stencils that leave highly defined emblematic forms that can appear as some sort of symbols or fragments of letter-forms. This process of cutting and pasting into the picture can introduce new unexpected elements, which sometimes are desired sometimes not.

"Since around 2008 I’ve become more involved in abstraction. The paintings are getting smaller and I am finally getting past trying to 'put everything I ever learned into each painting'. They are becoming less worked over and compositional elements seem to be asserting themselves in a flat, up front way. In working with paint I am attempting to reveal certain areas with clarity and definition and at the same time trying to respect what paint does without “me” stepping in to over control it. I am blindly following some inner vision that isn’t fully formed but has asserted itself repeatedly over time and that I recognize as me - or perhaps my soul. I look for openings that, when sensed or visualized, I can follow through and establish through the act of painting." Bill Leech was born in Oskaloosa, Kansas in 1951 and received a BFA from Kansa City Art Institute. In 1987 Leech moved east, establishing his studio and residence in Roosevelt, NJ, a town known since the late 1930's for its dynamic art community. Among other accolades, Leech received a scholarship to the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and a Fellowship from The New Jersey State Council on the Arts. He has exhibited at such venues as Stephen Harris Gallery, NYC; Alan Stone Gallery, NYC; Adam Baumgold Gallery, NYC; the New Jersey State Museum; William Patterson University’s Ben Shahn Galleries; The Chubb Atrium Gallery, NJ; the Hunterdon Art Museum, NJ; the Nabisco Gallery, NJ and Barbara Gillman Gallery, Miami, FL. His work is included in many private collections, including those of Nicholas Lehman, Judith Shuleveitz, Grahm Gund, Jack Nicholson, Joel Becker, Kitty Hawks, Yossi Friedman, Fred and Marlene Levinson, Steven Harris and Lucien Reese Roberts, among many others.