Rosa Leff

Before The Rush

Hand-cut image on black paper

"When we tell the stories of our lives, we tell the highs and the lows. In reality, most of my life has been spent walking past walls of handmade bricks and sagging chain link fences, or waiting on lines. However seemingly uninspiring, those are the things that make me feel at home and that is what I hope to capture when I cut paper. All those moments on the way to and from the things we think are important, the little stops in between. It is those singularly unspectacular moments that make up a life. I am best known for my intricate hand cut cityscapes that capture just that. They are based on original photos I’ve taken in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and all over the world."

– Rosa Leff

About the artist

Rosa Leff

Between painting alongside her grandmother and watching her father build reproduction antique furniture, Rosa Leff grew up seeing no distinction between fine art and craft. What mattered was that things were made by hand and done well. It is with that in mind that she creates her hand cut paper pieces. Each of Leff’s papercuts is cut by hand from a single sheet of paper using a knife. Her cityscapes are based on photos she’s taken in her neighborhood and all over the world. While Leff is best known for her ability to capture thin tangles of powerlines and intricate brickwork, she also enjoys experimenting with novel media such as paper plates and paper towels. Leff delights in bringing a modern, urban perspective to a traditional folk medium.

Leff has served on the board of The Guild of American Papercutters (GAP). In addition to being a GAP member she is a member of The Paper Artist Collective. Leff has exhibited her work throughout the United States, in China, and in Mexico. Her work has been acquired by The Canton Museum of Art (Canton, OH), The Colored Girls Museum (Philadelphia, PA) and The Museum of International Folk Art (Santa Fe, NM). She is the recipient of a 2021 Maryland State Arts Council Independent Artist Award, the 2021 Municipal Art Society of Baltimore City Artist Travel Prize, and the 2023 360 Xochi Quetzal BIPOC Residency. Leff resides in Puerto Rico with her husband and chihuahuas, Chalupa and Refrito.