Interview: Le'Andra LeSeur by Ksenia M. Soboleva
What inspired LeSeur? Compare what motivates you to create meaning.
- LeSeur is inspired by her body. In the interview, she said her body has become a recorder, and language has become a space for her to reveal things. She also uses her perspective as a queer, black women. She creates work that is connected to her experiences as a black woman but also of others and the way they present themselves.
- What motivates me to create is my experiences and myself. I enjoy working spontaneously. I'm not much of a planner in the beginning. I tend to try out different ideas first and then see which idea I want to continue working on and improving. My motivation can come from how I felt when listening to music and an idea popped in my head or a memory I want to recreate in a drawing or painting.
How does your choice of material, process, aesthetic, content, etc. reinforce your message?
- My choice of material and process varies with every aesthetic and content. I personally like testing out different materials. I enjoy working digitally for certain pieces that involve storytelling or a message I'm trying to get across. If I want to recreate something sentimental, then I go for painting. I like the idea of physically touching my work and putting my quote on quote, "blood, sweat and tears". There are a lot of decisions that I have to make, and I tend to overthink every decision.
Questions
Is there an experience that influenced you to become an artist?
- I made a birthday card for a friend, and I enjoyed her reaction. That sort of made me realize that I enjoy making things and seeing other people's reactions. But I enjoy coloring and looking at art in general. I enjoy being able to create.
Who was your most important teacher?
- My middle school art teacher, Ms. Ferro. She taught me how to draw a duck. It was a lesson on how to draw farm animals. There were so many choices, and there was this small duck that I really wanted to draw. She helped me draw this duck step by step, and something about drawing a duck really lit up something inside me.
What artist influenced you most?
- Cecily Brown, I enjoy looking at her pieces.
What is your favorite artwork?
- The Parc Monceau by Claude Monet. It really is a wonderful piece, and he captures the moment so well.
What exhibition has had the most influence on you?
- Death and The Maid was a wonderful exhibition, and it has influenced me the most. I keep going back to the photos I took in my camera roll. I enjoyed the thing and was thrilled to see her work in person. Another exhibition I enjoyed seeing and comes a close second would be the Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas exhibition. There was so much purple that it really helped the pieces stick out.
What is your favorite museum?
- The Met is a great museum. It is humongous, and I can spend hours there just looking at everything. I also like seeing people draw by the sculptures.
What book has influenced you the most?
- I enjoy rereading Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch. It's an easy book to follow and really reminds me to live in the present and go outside more.
What other creative fields/disciplines influence you?
- I love taking pictures and printing them out to scrapbook them. Music influences me a lot; depending on the song I am listening to, it can really set the tone for some pieces.
Have you ever made a choice that was influenced by someone's critique or feedback?
- Yes, I like to receive feedback. Having feedback makes my work better and makes me think of different ways to improve.
What advice would you give to an aspiring artist?
- To stop overthinking and go with the flow. I tend to overthink, and it disrupts my workflow.
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