An Abundant Life - Honest Authenticity

I met the Artist Leandro Comrie Pepin through an introduction from the Artist Walter John Rodriguez who I have written about in these pages before. Walter had told me that Leandro's work was excellent, and because I know that Walter is very serious about his own work and that his work is excellent, I knew that Leandro's must be as well. And when I first saw Leandro's work I was very impressed, because as with all excellent Artists, there was an integrity in his paintings as well as an obvious skill that only comes from devoted hard work, and when I spoke with him there was a seemingly lighthearted humility that belied the serious undertones and messages of the images. In some of our earliest conversations, he had shared with me that after a period of some success he had returned to a class with a teacher who had always admired his work, but in that return the teacher had pushed him to go beyond the comfort zone the teacher had felt he was resting in. I am not an advocate of teachers who call us out publicly, but Leandro's response had been to embrace the harsh critique though it had been an uncomfortable experience, and to listen and learn from it to the point that he now is grateful for the experience because he felt it had changed his work and his creative life. I wondered if he would have grown from that experience if he had been someone else with a different temperament, and over time I have realized that it is Leandro's way to grow and thrive where he finds himself because he is able to listen and learn from everyone he comes into contact with.

Leandro is a storyteller - on his Instagram page he wrote, "Art is the way I tell stories." And he is also a story collector, avidly hearing and embracing the stories of others and incorporating everyone he meets into the conversation of what it means to be human. From his earliest memories he had a mind that was inquisitive about the world around him, sharing his experiences and vision and telling the stories of those experiences through his art. And over time as his parents and family encouraged his work, he knew that art was a way of life for him, and as he has grown in skill and education and life experience, his work has grown in power.

When I sat down with him recently at the Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation, which is also known as ESKFF, at Mana Contemporary where he is currently part of the Residency Program, I asked him to tell me the story again of the teacher who had pushed him out of his comfort zone. I had seen his new work when he first began the Residency, a few weeks into the program, and when I had walked into his studio that day to say hello, I was so moved by the power and beauty of the work that if I hadn't been so familiar with his style I would have wanted to know who the Artist was. In the few weeks he had been there he had already begun to go deeper, and I wondered what the impetus had been. He told me that it was a combination of the studio space and the Residency itself, and the way that the program encourages Artists to go deeper and move into new realms, and in its own way it gives Artists a needed push to go beyond what they are familiar and comfortable with. Personally I appreciate the gentler push of ESKFF that creates a safe space for Artists to grow in, and though I have not seen Leandro's work from the now fabled time before his earlier teacher pushed him, I feel his work is possibly at the most powerful point it has ever been.

There is an integrity in Leandro's work and his life, an honesty and authenticity that is refreshing and surprising. When I walked into his studio to visit for the blog post, he was working on a canvas with such a beautifully creative spirit around him that I joked that he was pretending very well to look like he was painting. But far from being a pretender, the creative spirit in Leandro is a powerful one, so powerful that when he is working it can take him almost out of himself, and so powerful that it moves the viewer and becomes a vehicle for their own deepest thoughts and emotions to come to the surface. It is when we are our most authentic that others can be their honest selves, and it is in the art of Leandro Comrie that this kind of honest authenticity can meet and revive the soul of another.

Leandro Comrie

In The Studio At ESKFF

https://www.eskff.com/

http://www.leandrocomrie.com/

Blessings,

Jannie