Leah Rolando (born 1986) is an emerging photographic artist living is Cape Town, South Africa. After completing a BA in film and media, Leah began her career as a multi-media producer, before turning to a career in commercial and fine art photography. Leah is an annual participant of Open Studios Kommetjie and is currently exhibiting at the Everard Read Gallery Franschhoek, CIRCA, Ultraviolet Gallery, Knysna Fine Art and Riebeek Kasteel Contemporary
Statement
My photographic practice is rooted in minimalism and vibrancy. I work with colourful Perspex sculptures,
carefully arranging them to create images that sit somewhere between photography and abstract art. I’m
drawn to the moment where a photograph begins to feel like a graphic object, and I enjoy playing with
that tension - inviting the viewer to question what they are looking at and how it has been made.
In this new body of work, Folded Planes, I began heating and bending flat panels of Perspex. By reshaping
them, the panels become sculptural forms, where the physical act of manipulating the material is as
important as the photography itself.
Folded Planes explores how simple photographs can produce visually complex results. The process is slow
and deliberate, with folds meeting at precise points to guide the eye and create subtle optical illusions.
Light, shadow, and reflection extend beyond the object and become part of the final image. These effects
aren’t entirely predictable - some are carefully planned, while others emmerge by chance.
This technique developed naturally from the three-dimensional models in my All Sorts series (2025). While
that body of work focused on constructed forms made by gluing together laser-cut shapes, this series
pushes the process further: using 3D modelling software to design the sculptures, industrial machinery to
bend them, and photography to complete the work by collapsing the space between object, sculpture,
and image.