about machetegirl ❤︎⁠

Hey welcome 2 my brain 🤍 my name’s Leah and I like making art!! I’m the only one working here at my art studio in Pittsburgh, PA (United States). I do all of the creating, marketing, shipping, packing, customer service, etc. and I love it! My art is mainly focused on skin, body parts, and feminine horror. I love to mix cute and horrifying, especially in forms of sculpture. Sculpting is my absolute favorite medium of art and I spend hours doing it every day. You can read my complete artist statement at the bottom of the page! 

There’s nothing I ever wanted more than to resonate with people through my art. Growing up in the early 2000s, I dealt with a lot of pain, poverty etc. and I used the internet as an escape. That’s where I found the bands and horror movies that still influence me today to keep making art. I started this in 2023 on depop at first, where you can find a lot of my old projects by searching my user (machetegirl). 

I’m in school full-time right now while also running this full-time! Originally, I went to school for forensic science which inspired me to start my brand. For 2 years, I learned about how people look when they die, where your blood pools in your body depending on your position in your final moments, what certain wounds look like, etc. I also learned that I wasn’t mentally strong enough to work in that field, but the things I learned changed me forever (and certainly did not help my fear of death). I’m inspired by the things I saw and our intricate bodies, all of the veins and valves and blood and oxygen working together all at once to keep us alive. I’m also proud to say that I’m self-taught and have only taken one art class my whole life, since my Catholic high school sadly did not offer any. 

Whether you’re here just to browse, make a purchase, or submit a custom thank you SO much <3 -Leah

1/1 alien skin sculpture

1/1 alien skin sculpture

Sold out

1/1 alien skin sculpture

$125.00 USD
$125.00 USD
Sold out

shoes

shoes

My Artist Statement

Machetegirl is about stripping things down to what we all are beneath our clothes, flesh and bone. Without the layers we use to present ourselves to the world, we are raw, exposed, and human in the truest sense.

There's no hierarchy in blood, no difference in economic class, and we are all built from the same fragile, organic material. The body tells a story of pain and survival. If your emotional burdens could be manifested physically, what would it look like on your body? One thing that most humans can share is that we might be raw, open, and stitched back up in some places. A lot of people have told me that I wear my heart on my sleeve, and my work is a representation of that. These pieces are about wearing your wounds, owning them instead of covering them up.