An Abundant Life - Truthful Expression

I met the beautiful and powerful video Artist LeAndra LeSeur when she was showing her work at the 14C Art Fair, an Art fair in Jersey City that was being held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Although there was a juried portion of the fair where there was a very large and spacious room for some work to be shown, the majority of the Artists were exhibiting their work in hotel rooms. The work was really wonderful throughout, and I had several friends who were part of the fair, but showing work in that setting is a very big challenge and I kept feeling that though the Artists were doing their best to create welcoming environments, it wasn't an environment that could show their work to the full extent of its beauty. And then I walked into a room where there was a video installation, and I felt as if I had entered into another world. LeAndra LeSeur was standing outside, and as I entered with the Artists who had joined me that day, she came inside very quietly, to let us know that if we had any questions she would be happy to answer them. In a very lovely way it almost seemed as if she was there just to show the work, and I wasn't sure at first if the work was her own or if she was just watching over it. But then as I watched it and read some of the materials that were available, I realized that she was in fact the Artist and creator of what we were experiencing, including the way the room had been arranged to give us an experience of entering into another place away from the busyness of the rest of the art fair and the life and bustle of the hotel.

The work I saw that day was extraordinary, and I followed up with LeAndra when I was making suggestions to Chef Paul Gerard of Antique Bar & Bakery for curating an Art event at the Antique Loft in Hoboken. LeAndra sent me some links to share with him which he loved, but there was another video Artist who his Partner had already invited to show his work at the event, so he asked if she could be a part of one in the future. That future event has not happened yet, but I am always looking for ways to connect LeAndra into work that I am doing, and recently I had the opportunity to invite her to be a part of Creative Forces, the Zoom call Artist talks that the Artist, Photographer and Producer Eugene Galles has been creating with me as part of the Love & Plenty project. Eugene has been enjoying meeting with all of the Artists I have been introducing him to through this series and her was very excited about her work. The conversation we had that day was exhilarating because there is something about LeAndra that, though the topics she addresses are at times very serious and very heavy, she herself is very full of light and joy. It is within that lightness that she is able to bring messages into her work that then radiate out into the world, making us stop and think, and as Eugene said during our interview, to want to be better as people. LeAndra expresses herself truthfully and authentically, and it is because of her courage to speak what she feels she must and to speak it honestly from her own experience, to explore the emotions and depth that are a part of her own experience and the experience of others, as we watch her work we become more open to feeling and exploring and listening, and to expressing the truths that need to be told to help bridge the divides between darkness and light.

LeAndra LeSeur

Discusses Her Work

With Eugene Galles and Jannie Wolff

As Part Of The Artist Talk Series

Creative Forces

On Zoom

  https://lleseur.com/ 

 

 Blessings,

Jannie Susan