Ingo Leth works in different disciplines including acrylic or oil paint on canvas combined with natural materials like paper and sand. In his work exists a cadence of colour, energy, and a spontaneous exuberance for the medium that is captivating and visually exciting. The organic and instinctive style, fluid and visceral in presentation reveals a heightened understanding of structure and composition to express emotional tenor.
His work is often figurative, realistic, and abstract.
He is co-founder of the TOYism art style. The last years he had a lot of expositions in the Netherlands and abroad, like in New York, Barcelona, Kentucky and in Montreal.
He generally works with acrylic or oil paint on linen, combined with original Japanese washi (paper), and gold leaf. The color symbolic black, red and gold is a color combination for symbolize luck and happiness. You can find this combination often in his work. Sometimes he use different materials, just to know how it feels to work with.
Ingo often gets his inspiration from the Japanese culture. He is sure that we can learn a lot from the Japanese culture. “The way how they combine their fast contemporary life with culture is very impressive. When you are in Japan or you meet Japanese people you'll see, that they are proud about their own culture. Proud and respect is a very important issue in Japan.”
1000 crane birds
After reading the book "Sadako will leben" Ingo began to paint 1000 crane birds. In Japan the crane bird is a very symbolic animal. He is symbolic for peace, love, solidarity, luck and a new beginning.
The story is about the girl Sadako. When she was a child, the atomic bomb falls on Hiroshima. Sadako survived it, but 10 years later she get's ill. She get's the radiation sickness (leukemia) and become to the hospital. In the hospital she gets a lot of pieces of Origami paper. Her parents told her, that she have to fold 1000 crane birds, so she can do a wish to get healthy again. Japanese people believe, that if you fold 1000 crane birds, you can make a wish. A lot of people wishes something about health, others about love (to find a partner), or something else.
Sadako had fold 990 pieces of crane birds, then she died.
Because of this story, the symbol of crane birds gets confessed outside Japan. The book is translated in more than 40 different languages.
Because of the symbolic of the crane bird and to tell the story of Sadako further, Ingo began to paint crane birds. He wanted to do it his own way, not folding them but paint them. At this moment he have painted 786 cranbirds. They can be very small or very big. The size doesn't matter, only the number of 1000 counts.
Ingo wants to paint something positive. To choose a color that reflect my idea about something positive, is generally a symbolic color. Red is a color he uses in every painting, small or big parts, red is a characteristic color for him. Ingo wants to get a balance in his work, choose the right color is very important to keep "the peace" and balance and tell the story he wants to tell with. Like the items he paint, is the symbolic meaning very important to reflect his mind.
Ingo Leth (Duisburg, 1968)
