A house on the open road: Mobile homes and memories from Drew Leshko

For anyone who came of age in the suburbia of the 1970s, ’80s or ’90s, Drew Leshko’s new work may stir up some memories of the open road.

The Kensington-based artist has dealt almost exclusively in paper sculpture over his 10-year career. Lately, he’s earned attention for his long-running series of miniatures depicting noteworthy buildings in and around his adopted neighborhood. (He’s lived in Philadelphia since 2007, following his graduation from West Chester University.)

Childhood memories and wanderlust

But in Home Is Where You Park It, Leshko’s upcoming solo show at Paradigm Gallery, the York, PA native turns his focus back to the quasi-rural campsites of his youth. He has assembled a collection of 18 paper sculptures depicting travel trailers and campervans, detailed down to the window curtains and weather-beaten side panels.

“This was really informed by childhood memories and a sense of wanderlust,” Leshko, 32, says of his new collection. The series started when he recreated his grandfather’s campervan. After that he made a replica of his parents’ mobile home, and soon enough the work “spun out of control and became this whole campground of sorts.”

Based on his own photographs as well as images submitted by other artists and fans via Instagram, the campers are rooted in a certain time and place — when gas was cheap and, as Leshko puts it, “every vehicle was big and strong and able to tow something.” Add a tiny filling station complete with a dumpster and ice machine, and you have a slice of rustic Americana in miniature.

Past and possibility

Much like Leshko’s previous work, which has depicted water towers, candy shops, and corner groceries, “Home Is Where You Park It” invokes the past, but it also suggests possibility.

“The ideal situation with living in a vehicle like this would be the freedom to have your home base, but still have exploration as the constant,” he says.

The show has taken turns in Los Angeles, Berlin and Art Basel in Miami, where Leshko unexpectedly sold out of his collection. (Patrons couldn’t help themselves from talking to the artist about their own experiences living or traveling in campervans.) He had to remake the series from scratch for the show at Paradigm, the collection’s first appearance in Philadelphia.

This summer, Leshko will have another exhibition in New York that will focus on decommissioned vehicles. Again, there’s the motif of mobility, time past, and the potential for rebirth.

“I try to make them read like they had a life,” he says of the cars, vans, and buildings that he recreates. “You can build your own narrative [around them] if you want.”

Home Is Where You Park It will be on display from February 26 to April 16 at Paradigm Gallery + Studio, 746 S. 4th Street, Philadelphia. An opening reception will take place on February 26 at 5:30pm.

At right: Drew Leshko doesn't miss any details in this paper sculpture exhibition. Image courtesy of the artist.