Using paper and wood almost exclusively, miniature artist Drew Leshko documents the changing urban landscape. His work includes carving, cutting, layering, and painting, all at a 1:12 scale and with incredible attention to the tiniest of details.
Zooming in on his neighborhood located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Leshko studies its building facades from observations and photographs. Anything from dumpsters to shabby storefronts is painstakingly recreated, adding up to a three-dimensional archive of the buildings surrounding him. “My project with the buildings in my neighborhood is just that, a documentary project or archiving project,” he remarked in an interview with The Daily Mini.
Highlighting the typically overlooked details that make up a neighborhood, as well as the overall sense of decay and neglect, his work might also be understood as a social critique about the ways in which society is constantly disposing of its past. “There is something inside of me that pushes me to take on these works,” says Leshko, “but I can’t identify what that is.”
Exhibited internationally and included in the permanent collection of the Urban Nation Museum (Berlin) and the Dean Collection (NYC), you can also view his miniature models online, via Instagram:
