ARTISTS TO KNOW: LE'ANDRA LESEUR
LE’ANDRA LESEUR
Le’Andra LeSeur is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans across video, installation, photography, painting, and performance. Her work celebrates Blackness, contemplates the experience of invisibility, and seeks to dismantle and reclaim stereotypes surrounding Black female identity. Le’Andra’s latest multichannel video and performance piece for The Shed’s Open Call, There is no movement without rhythm, dissects the effects rhythm has on the body in its quest for liberation.
PHOTO BY: APRIL R. MAXEY
SHEER: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
LE’ANDRA LESEUR: I’m a black queer woman born and raised in the Bronx, NY. I come from a lineage of resilient women but my hope is that I change that narrative and create space that just allows me to be - whether that is being strong or tender - I just want to be. I’ve lived between NYC and Atlanta, GA so when asked where is home I usually respond that “home is just a feeling”.
Profile, 2018. Single-channel video, Blue Neon Light. Installation view; Dimensions variable. Total Run Time: 9 minutes 52 seconds
Courtesy of the Artist
SHEER: What led you to the path of becoming an artist?
LL: I never thought of myself as an artist growing up. Art felt very unattainable. I couldn’t paint. I couldn’t sculpt. I couldn’t draw. So I was sure I could never be an artist. It wasn’t until my freshman year in college, when I started taking art history courses and learning about modern and contemporary artists that were using everyday objects and changing how we perceive them. I also started seeing people that looked like me who made art at a high level and that felt reassuring. I started dabbling in photography and fell in love from there. The darkroom became a place of solace and I told myself that I always wanted to embrace that feeling.
SHEER: What influences the artistic medium you choose to represent a particular piece or theme?
LL: I usually work with video but sometimes feel there is a need to expand on the context of a piece through a different material or visual experience. This is what has led me to work in other mediums such as sound, painting, and even sculpture. I think of the idea behind a piece and allow myself to create freely using any medium that aides in that creation.
libérer, 2019. Neon, C-stand, ceramic, soil, water. Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the Artist and Microscope Gallery
Maybe rainbows do exist at night, 2019. 6-Channel HD Video, Sound. Installation View; Dimensions Variable
Courtesy of the Artist and Microscope Gallery
SHEER: How does your work not only center your experience as a black person in the United States but more specifically a black woman?
LL: I think alot about the effects of trauma - the effects of violence. And how this directly affects black women. Black women deal with these effects based on race but also based on gender. We are taught at a young age to be a certain way to honor our blackness but not always honoring what it means to be a woman. My hope with the work I create is that I can honor both of these things simultaneously but also question and confront what we’ve been conditioned to believe is womanhood and how we express our femininity in beautiful, unique ways.
SHEER: What inspired your latest piece for The Shed's Open Call: There is no movement without rhythm? And how does this help you define the healing qualities of music?
LL: I’ve been sampling music for some time now in my video works. Mostly Jazz, House, and Gospel. I noticed similar rhythms in all of these genres and realized that a lot of instruments used were part of traditional Gnawa music. I wanted to reference this in this new work but play with the idea of a call and response. How do the original use of these instruments play into some of the music we listen to today in each of those genres (i.e Jazz, Black House, Black Gospel). I was also thinking about the way in which our bodies respond to these sounds - these rhythms. What parts of our bodies feel held and whole as we feel the vibrations from each sound? So the idea was to create the sound piece first and use the visual as an actualized response to that sound. It was an interesting process but I feel the totality of the piece turned out to be a beautiful reflection of what the experience of music can do for not only our bodies but our minds and souls.
There is no movement without rhythm, 2021. 5-Channel HD Video, Sound. Installation View
Courtesy of the Artist
SHEER: Your work explores the invisibility felt by many black women in this country but with a goal to dismantle and reclaim stereotypes. What does it mean to you to truly feel seen both within and outside of your work?
LL: I think a lot about validation in my work. I think we grow up feeling a need to have outside validation. I told myself a long time ago that my work wouldn’t need that. I create work to honor myself and create work for myself as a way to validate and affirm myself. This allows me to feel seen regardless of if anyone is actually taking the time to do so themselves.
“I come from a lineage of resilient women but my hope is that I change that narrative and create space that just allows me to be - whether that is being strong or tender - I just want to be.”
SHEER: What does black liberation mean and look like to you?
LL: I think black liberation is care, love, and support. We are in a moment right now - one that will last for some time - where mutual aid is of top priority. Outside of my work, I’m constantly thinking through ways in which I can give back to my community. Whether that is through time, space, or aid. I think we are all collectively realizing the importance of community and the importance of giving to one another at this time. It feels like the one way we can freely exist and even thrive and it has been and will be so important in how our communities continue to flourish in the future. We can’t depend on outside resources. We have to depend on one another.
“I think we grow up feeling a need to have outside validation. I told myself a long time ago that my work wouldn’t need that. I create work to honor myself and create work for myself as a way to validate and affirm myself. This allows me to feel seen regardless of if anyone is actually taking the time to do so themselves.”
SHEER: How do you believe your art serves as a call to action and what is the lasting impact you hope to have through your work?
LL: I’ve always hoped that my art would create a space of care and deep reflection. I am not worried necessarily about what people think of my work but ultimately interested in what they feel when they experience it. I think we sometimes get so caught up in the definition and meaning of things that we forget to check in with how things make us feel. I truly hope my art allows viewers to dig into their feelings and connect with themselves while viewing - creating a deeper presence with themselves and with the work and a deeper listening and viewing experience.
