Re-birth - Leila Bartell
WATCH
REBIRTH a 3-minute piece directed by Leila Bartell. Through dance, music and sound design, Rebirth offers a look into one’s experience when torn between what one is and what one is expected to be. And the journey of becoming themselves. Essentially it’s about a woman breaking free from social constraints expressed through movement and sound featuring the dancer Renee Stewart.
IN CONVERSATION with the director Leila Bartell
How are you dealing with the pandemic? The ups, the downs? Any coping mechanisms toshare? Silver linings?
The pandemic has been a heartbreaking awakening for humanity as a whole. Even if you or your loved ones have luckily not been affected by it, you can’t forget about everyone else when you’re doing okay. There has been a broader frustration with how things have been dealt with and of course the general heaviness and sadness that has been present has surely had an effect on all of us. I’m privileged enough to be able to be anywhere in the world doing what I do and I generally have a positive outlook on life, so I try to focus on what’s good. Doing things can sometimes feel overwhelming, but it has definitely opened my mind to different ways of working and living. It has challenged me to be more creative, to rely on my own resiliency, to focus on what’s good rather than to complain. Life can be testing at times for everyone on different levels, especially against the backdrop of the global pandemic, but I’ve come to learn that the most arduous moments cause the greatest growth - personal and collective - and I’ve found my appreciation for that has only intensified during this time.
How did the idea for your film REBIRTH begin, what was your inspiration?
I have always been fascinated with telling a story with as little dialogue as possible. My first short film Idira is almost silent. So, a movement piece, rather than a traditional dance film, enhanced by sound design and music was something I really wanted to do for a while.
Can you tell us about your process with this project?
It was the same as with every project. There was an idea, that I wanted to explore. I thought about the concept and wrote a detailed outline, including the narrative, which I find really important even when creating an abstract piece. It gives it direction. Everything from that point on unfolded quite naturally.
How does your approach to film differ from other mediums you work in?
Painting is very much a relationship between me and the canvas. Film of course also has that deep connection when conceptualising, but is multifaceted in the sense that there are more people involved so I find myself being much more structured.
Do you approach your use of colour with a different eye depending on the medium?
That’s a great question. I have never thought of it before, but I do. My paintings are very much about colour, whereas my film work to date had been more subdued in that sense; much more desaturated. However, in my most recent art film ĀRKA I am starting to use more intense colour palettes. What was the first colour in childhood you remember having an effect on you? My first memory of seeing the colour of the sea was in Croatia when I was about 4 years old. Taking in all the different shades of blue in awe of the immense depth of the colours in front of me, I remember feeling such deep joy.
Can you describe the first moment you were profoundly affected by colour in your adult life?
The moment I first set foot on a tiny island in the Bahamas with turquoise water and all the colours of nature there made me emotional. It has never happened to me before and I’m an avid traveler. I suppose it’s again the colour blue that has a profound effect on me.
Is there a colour that is connected to a specific moment in time?
Gold. It takes me to a moment of meeting a special someone in my life.
Your favorite colour and why?
It may not commonly be considered a colour per se, but black. Black is something I wear, black is a colour I use and have used with every single painting I have painted to date. I feel without it my work is incomplete. My connection to black is very visceral. I see different shades of black, and I find it elegant and mysterious. I like to explore and express with it.
Who or what is your greatest teacher?
Life. I think we learn from experience and given life is experiential in nature it is definitely my greatest teacher.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
My mother said to me at a very young age to follow with faith and determination what I’m passionate about. She told me that every human creation has been imagined and made by someone, so in other words anything is possible. It stayed with me forever.
Title: Healing Wounds
Year: 2019
Medium: Oils and Acrylics on Canvas
Dimensions: 152.4 cm x 121.9 cm
All images courtesy of the artist Leila Bartell
VISIT
ART IN THE AGE OF NOW
Overseen by curator Ben Moore of Art Below, Art in the Age of Now is a free event for all featuring a number of works by over 100 local artists, including Leila Bartell, that have been created during lockdown and are being shown to the public for the first time. Free admission tickets are now available.
