FLESH & FLAME by Sydney McLeod

Positive Space to Exhibit, Flesh & Flame, New Work by Artist Sydney McLeod Opening April 4

Flesh & Flame is a drawing-based installation that uses charcoal, poetry, and dark charcoal voids to evoke the integration of mind and body. A monolithic figurative drawing, relying on reductive mark making and deep blacks, creates a lush and immersive surface to anchor into the physicality of the body, while the surrounding poetry digs into the emotional complexity of reconnecting with that physicality. The installation will confront the body as both person and object outside of the technosphere of media. The concept is deeply rooted in coming to terms with a body haunted by chronic pain and fatigue.

“This work stems from my experience with chronic pain and invisible illness, and began as a response to the lack of useful language surrounding the experience of chronic pain. I continue to explore the body through the ways in which I’ve adapted to live within the framework of my disability without resentment or loss of autonomy. The focus on the body as both object and energy conveyed by subtractive drawing functions as an antithesis and response to the tortured artist trope: an acknowledgement of the disability of pain through the tension of the pose and a celebration of the body as complicated and resilient through delicate marks of light.” - Sydney McLeod

About the Artist: Sydney McLeod is a charcoal artist, draftsman and bookbinder working out of Tulsa, OK. They graduated from Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, OR with a concentration in printmaking in 2019. Since 2017, their work has focused on the language and connotations of chronic pain and invisible illness as it coincides with their experience. After receiving the Artists Creative Fund Grant in 2025, Sydney has been building bridges between drawing and bookmaking through installation.

Flesh & Flame, by Sydney McLeod

OPENING 5-8pm, Saturday, April 4, 2026

Continues through Saturday, April 25

This project was supported by the Artists Creative Fund.

PLUS: Artist Talk + Embodiment Drawing Workshop

1-2pm, Saturday, April 11

Drawing Supplies Provided / Donation-based / Max 20 participants

Register:

For this workshop, Artist Sydney McLeod will lead participants to explore self-portraiture using mirrors and blind contour drawing in order to engage with our self-image outside of social media, experimenting with an array of different drawing materials. By using blind couture drawing we engage with what we see on a deeper level, and lower the stakes of creating a ‘good’ image which allows for a playful approach.

Gallery hours during the exhibit:

TH 6-8pm + FR 5-8pm + SAT 12-5pm + BY APPT

More info:

Positive Space Tulsa is located at 1324 East 3rd Street in the Pearl District. Positive Space Tulsa was founded by local artist Nicole Finley (she/her). An art space dedicated to Womxn artists, Positive Space Tulsa believes: The letter “x” in Womxn recognizes all women, including gender expansive identities. Positive Space Tulsa is for women, nonbinary, genderfluid, genderqueer, and agender artists (excluding those who identify as male/men). Womxn is pronounced the same as woman or women.

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Host or Publisher Positive Space Tulsa