Work samples

  • Multitudes on Scrap II
    Multitudes on Scrap II

    2023
    wood scrap, acrylics, plant-based wood finish
    5” x 1.5” x 5.5”

  • Two, Or More?
    Two, Or More?

    5” x 6” x 5.5”
    driftwood, wood scrap, panel nails, acrylics, plant-based wood finish
    2023

  • Oak Scrap Box
    Oak Scrap Box

    2” x 9” x 2”
    wood scrap, acrylics
    2023

  • Spalted Maple Moon Box
    Spalted Maple Moon Box

    8” x 4’’ x 3’’
    wood, acrylics, plant-based wood finish
    2024

About Leo

Leo Louise Cunningham (they/them) is a queer and trans non-binary artist, maker, and educator from Baltimore, MD. Their work celebrates non-conformity, mutualism, and patterns of brilliant abundance—often featuring intricate carved and burned patterns and bold colors contrasted with natural wood grain. Their creative practice challenges inherited notions of individualism and self-sufficiency while embracing resilience and cooperation in nature. With a passion for “queering” woodworking… more

Jump to a project:

Big Stick

Inspired by brightly colored snail eggs, Big Stick (2024), is a testament to nature's abundance of possibility and celebrates the freaky weirdness of animal reproduction all around us. This piece of locally harvested driftwood became a perfectly grotesque canvas; its branchy protrusions have been carved into hundreds of pink orbs, carved one at a time using a micro-motor rotary tool.

  • Big Stick
    Big Stick

    22’’ x 10’’ x 11’’
    driftwood, acrylics
    2024

  • Big Stick
    Big Stick

    22’’ x 10’’ x 11’’
    driftwood, acrylics
    2024

  • Big Stick
    Big Stick

    22’’ x 10’’ x 11’’
    driftwood, acrylics
    2024

  • Big Stick - Process (1)
    Big Stick - Process (1)

    Carving process for Big Stick.

  • Big Stick - Process (2)
    Big Stick - Process (2)

    Painting process for Big Stick.

  • Big Stick - Process (3)
    Big Stick - Process (3)

    Painting process for Big Stick.

Multitudes

These sculptures celebrate mutations and multitudes as metaphors for non-conformity and growth—freaky patterns that challenge dominant narratives rooted in scarcity, competition, and individualism.

  • Multitudes on Scrap II
    Multitudes on Scrap II

    5” x 1.5” x 5.5”
    wood scrap, acrylics, plant-based wood finish
    2023

  • Two, or More?
    Two, or More?

    5” x 6” x 5.5”
    driftwood, wood scrap, panel nails, acrylics, plant-based wood finish

    2023

     

  • Sick Twig
    Sick Twig

    5” x 5” x 5”
    driftwood, acrylics

    2023

     

  • Spalted Maple Multitudes Box
    Spalted Maple Multitudes Box

    8” x 4’’ x 3’’
    wood, acrylics, plant-based wood finish
    2024

  • Multitudes on Reclaimed Drawers
    Multitudes on Reclaimed Drawers

    8'' x 4'' x 4''
    Reclaimed cedar drawer unit, acrylics, plant-based wood finish
    2023

  • Multitudes on Scrap I
    Multitudes on Scrap I

    18” x 5” x 1”
    wood scrap, acrylics

    2023

  • Stranger Things
    Stranger Things

    3’’ x 1.5’’ x 1.5’’
    wood, acrylics
    2023

Boxes

I'm perpetually in search of quirky canvases to explore new patterns. Wood scraps—leftover and reused from others' projects—inspire these small boxes, some sculptural, some more practical.

  • Small Walnut Vine Box
    Small Walnut Vine Box

    3.5'' x 1.25'' x 1.75''
    wood, plant-based wood finish
    2024

  • Mahogany Pattern Box
    Mahogany Pattern Box

    5.5'' x 2'' x 1.25''
    wood, hemp oil
    2024

  • Oak Scrap Box
    Oak Scrap Box

    2” x 9” x 2”
    wood scrap, acrylics

    2023

     

  • VIne Box
    VIne Box

    4'' x 4 '' x 6''
    wood, acrylics, hemp oil
    2023

  • Spalted Maple Moon Box
    Spalted Maple Moon Box

    8” x 4’’ x 3’’
    wood, acrylics, plant-based wood finish
    2024

  • Reclaimed Cedar Drawers
    Reclaimed Cedar Drawers

    3.25’’ x 3.25’’ x 3.75’’
    thrifted mini drawer unit, hemp oil

    2023

     

  • Pink Pine Box
    Pink Pine Box

    4'' x 4'' x 6''
    wood, spray paint
    2023

  • Black Pine Box
    Black Pine Box

    4'' x 4'' x 6''
    wood, leather dye
    2023

  • Multitudes Box
    Multitudes Box

    3.5'' x 1.5'' x 1.5''
    wood, acrylics, India ink, hemp oil
    2024