Excerpt from New Zealand Herald - Saturday June 21, 2008   By T.J. McNamara
 
Strength and meaning out loud
Complex private decision-making Expressionist art of Virginia Leonard, her paintings are a riot of vivid colour and the only analogy for them is symphonic music. What makes the paintings a little different from similar work that has been done everywhere since Kandinsky launched the style back in 1911, is that after the initial painting, the artist pours resin over the layers and gives them a polished surface that sets them back a little in space.

Then, when the resin is set, she dashes arpeggios of colour and line on to the initial surface, sometimes with gouts of thick paint that stand up in relief.

The nervous energy of the paintings and the colour makes all of them initially appealing but gradually some emerge as more effective than others. The paintings gather extra force when there are dark areas near the top and the colours emerge from this as they do in Jardin de la Maison.

The dabs on the resin surface often appear arbitrary but when they follow forms and add to the atmosphere as in La Lune Bleue they really add life to the work. Also, as is often the case with such work, it is particularly impressive when it is big. One giant work is all hectic red with an odd title that refers to the activities of Louis of France: I Hear You Like to Make Keys as a Hobby.