Upcoming Exhibitions

Nature Portraits

Works by Cathy Leaycraft

August 22 through September 21, 2025

Opening Reception: Friday, August 22, 2025 (5pm-7pm)

Corkran Gallery

“I am a landscape photographer. There is a long tradition in the portrayal of landscape. While I am rooted in that tradition, my approach is not traditional. The unusual appearance of my photographs is created by the use of a glass sphere. I do not directly photograph the landscape. Put simply, I use a hollow glass ball. It is about twelve inches in diameter and made of clear blown glass. The images are created by inserting objects into my glass sphere. These objects then find themselves surrounded by layers of imagery (distorted landscape beyond and beneath the glass). When doing a photo shoot, I set up my “glass studio” on the ground; I insert my subject, and begin exploring potential images. I move my body and camera around while looking through a viewfinder. In this work, I have shunned computer manipulation in favor of manipulating light and reflection, before it reaches my camera.”

Cathy Leaycraft has been photographing for over 30 years. In 1976 she moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where she resides today. At that time she was working with other artists creating video documentaries. This led her to the study of still photography, which she started at the University of Delaware and continued at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Today she uses reflected and refracted light to create a unique viewpoint before she even snaps the shutter. Her companion on this journey has been a glass sphere.

Leaycraft’s work is held in many public and private collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MOMA, and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Image: Hosta Bud, archival print on watercolor paper by Cathy Leaycraft