Invasive species is a project by artist Leslie Kulesh.

Leslie works in textiles both wearable and sculptural whose intentions are to initiate discourse around the roles our clothing can play beyond simple function; using the softness and domesticity of fabric to engage with harder, often overlooked topics. A past collection of wearables featured a signal-blocking pocket for mobile phones and emf-blocking crystals. A separate exhibition of soft sculptures included conflict minerals sewn into the stuffing.

For this series leslie proposes the idea that humans are an invasive species, and propagators of accidental cross contamination: collecting foxtails on one last hike through runyon canyon before boarding a plane to berlin. An East London allotments’s illegal three-cornered leek is an Upstate New York farm-to-table chef’s prized wild ramps. When a local council’s budgets don’t allow for the best practices of Japanese Knotweed removal, day labourers build encampments under the vines; finding safe shelter. This collection of wearables invites us to recognise and accept this cross-contamination and begin to play an active role.

Leslie kulesh (1982) grew up in silicon valley gaining a bfa from san francisco art institute before moving to paris. Leslie went on to work on her own exhibitions, collaborations and in fashion production for many years, before settling in london and starting a family. Leslie is a self taught seamstress, experimenting with materials and often breaking machinery by pushing it to the edge off its ability. She has a close group of collaborators that she’s developed over the years and is happy to produce across countries when it suits the project, a way of working that mirrors her own biography. 

Leslie often collaborates with other designers on projects, a process she finds very rewarding. Her work has been shown around the world from museums to project spaces, she has lectured at universities and in squats and has been featured in many publications, including time magazine.