Remembering June Leaf

Posted by Border Crossings on July 30, 2024

June Leaf, artist and legendary story teller, produced her entrancing narratives in tin, on canvas, paper, in wood and with gears, wheels and homely, worn out materials. Out of this she made magic, working consistently from 1948, following her own particular figurative path. She died on July 1, 2024 at 94, leaving a legacy of small sculptures—many primarily hand-mechanized, drawings on paper and tin and paintings that were a ravishment, worked and layered and so meaning-full that looking, you are certain the artist herself was present.

Being in her company carried the delight of having a picnic with a very wise child; pleasure and joy and a willingness to be surprised never left her.

Border Crossings talked with June Leaf, first in 1998 and we called the interview, “this to this, this to this”, reflecting her narrative style in language and art. We talked with the artist again in 2014 and titled this interview, “Drawing the Dance of the Unfinished Story” because she was a dancer and was never done. In 2023 we looked again at June Leaf and her life and work in Mabou, Nova Scotia, the home she loved and shared with her husband Robert Frank for 54 years.

The interviews and article below offer something of the remarkable June Leaf.

Read the 1998 interview, “this to this, this to this” here.

Read the 2014 interview, “Drawing the Dance of the Unfinished Story” here.

Read the 2023 article “June Leaf in Mabou since 1969” here.