For artist Le’Andra LeSeur, her body is her canvas.
From Nov. 14 to today, LeSeur has shared insight about her experience in the visual and performance arts, and how she uses her body to create meaningful work.
LeSeur worked with art professor Pedro Barbeito in the Experimental Printmaking Institute (EPI), Lafayette’s professional print shop on Hamilton Street. Barbeito wanted to bring LeSeur to Lafayette due to her multifaceted artistic talents that he feels all types of artists at Lafayette can identify with.
“I really wanted someone who can … cover the interests of all the students that we have here that take art courses and are interested in art,” Barbeito said.
LeSeur works in performing arts, as well as multiple forms of visual art such as photography, painting, sculpting and, most recently, printmaking.
“I’ve been working in different mediums such as sculpture and painting, really thinking about the ways in which my body and the rhythm of my body chips away at an object or kind of makes an imprint on a surface or on an actual print,” LeSeur said of her artistic interests.
She feels that her artistic philosophy – particularly the way that she uses movement and her body in her artwork – works well with what Barbeito is doing in the EPI.
“[I’m] interested in thinking about the ways in which bodies can leave a print, and that print becomes like a remnant of some sort … And so it just felt right to really start thinking about the ways in which that can take shape as a printmaker in a printmaking process,” LeSeur said.
LeSeur’s main event on campus was her lecture in Buck Hall’s Landis Cinema yesterday. This event allowed students to hear about LeSeur’s unique artistic experience. She hopes that Lafayette students can learn or be inspired by not only her art but her journey to becoming an artist.
“I always like to talk about my journey, so where I’ve come from and the ways in which I’ve kind of built things up over time,” LeSeur said.
LeSeur also hopes that students can be inspired by her lecture and work to keep an open mind to learning about new things in a creative way.
“I always really just want folks to just think about what it means to truly be open to things and how just being open to that learning process can really be transformative,” LeSeur said. “I always like to tell people just to be open to where life takes you and the things that you can learn along the way. I think, for me, that openness allowed me to really come into art and see art as a way to express in a way to better understand myself.”
You can learn more about LeSeur and her work on her website lleseur.com.
