So I’ve decided to give myself a bit of a retrospective show, dusting off old work to mix with new, a collection of ten plus years of art making and the many styles and overlapping themes in between.
Come out to the gallery inside The Knoxville Community Darkroom for the opening July 7th 6-9 pm
I’ll be merging painting, printmaking, analog photography and possibly more.. we’ll see!
Two artists in quarantine
The world, seemingly closed
Yet together, we are so open
One year ago, we met in a museum
Now the museums are closed
We’ve got to stay in shape,
Artistically speaking
So now we bring the museum to us
Recycling new work in old frames
Pairing it with pieces brought here from abroad
The work dances together as a self portrait
Of the both of us
A reflection of life through photography
Of moments from an open world
A world we now long for
That is now somehow only accessible
On these walls
Open & Closed, Robin Leevel & Sharyn Bachleda, Amsterdam, Netherlands May 2020
Open & Closed is comprised of Dutch contemporary fine art photographer, Robin Leevel and Tennessee-based interdisciplinary artist, Sharyn Bachleda.
In this show, both artists use photography as a reflection of their experiences as a kind of abstract, philosophical self portrait. Leevel finds a way to transcend everyday moments with his matter-of-fact, deadpan aesthetic photographs paired with more abstract works utilizing reflections in water, windows and other reflective surfaces. Leevel uses his everyday experiences as a mirror reflecting self through other. In contrast with Leevel’s work, Bachleda’s pieces are more interested in cultivating a timelessness where elements of nature become the main subject, allowing the the viewer to imagine themselves in these moments. The work of both artists have a dreamy quality as if each photograph is a result of a moment taken out of a story that hasn’t been written yet. They are all open ended, vast and vague in the sense that anyone can piece together the puzzle and maybe even write their own story.
Collectively, the photographs in this show were made all over the world:
Japan, California, Holland, Belgium, Tennessee, New Mexico, Ireland, Germany, Budapest, Colorado, Austria and Panama
Interview with the artists
In regard to the contemporary use of photography in a sensory overloaded culture, why do you choose to work with photography?
Bachleda: “Well in my case, I’m using analog so everything is slowed down. The camera I mainly shoot with only takes 12 frames and film is not only expensive but the process is so poetic. I develop my own film so after I take a shot, that film is bathed in darkness, rolled back up, put in a bag in the freezer (to help preserve them when I shoot a lot at a time) and eventually meticulously handled in darkness to go through a series of chemicals and washes that resurrects the latent image to a permanent one. And then, the film is hung to dry, cut, placed in archival sleeves and finally comes to life when it’s scanned or printed in the darkroom. It’s a truly poetic process that not only requires time but trial, error and grace as well. And plenty of rolls of film have messed up and I have to accept that. The process has taught me a lot about patience and focus. I still photograph some digital (mainly on my phone) but diving deep into analog photography reminds me how much we take images for granted. At the end of the day, all cameras, analog or digital, are just a tool but for me, it helps me slow down and really process these experiences and images I’ve chosen to create and capture.”
What inspires you to create more, experiencing other artists or other real-world phenomena?
Leevel: “I am mostly inspired by daily life and its beautiful simplicity or weird abstractions. Most of my practice can be related to my interest in philosophy as well and thinking about concepts of time and the whole questioning of reality itself. I have learned that through photography, I am also discovering new layers of what reality could really mean. There are lots of photographers or artists that inspire me but I would say my personal drive more so comes from my deep desire and interest in trying to understand life and its meaning, if we can say there is one of course.”
How does photography shape the way you look at and see the world? When is the decisive moment?
Bachleda: “When I look back when I first started photographing, I was 14 and quickly became obsessed, photographing things that I normally would walk by. I now realize the camera became an extension of myself and gave me a sense of identity as I would look back at these moments I not only witnessed but moments that I made that would outlive the moment itself as well as my physical self. Photography is an easy way to re-acquaint ourselves with our inner child; it’s a way to allow ourselves to see the world through new eyes. Sometimes I have a goal in mind or something I’m looking for but oftentimes, I prefer to just kind of wander and allow the world to show me what she wants to. It’s hard to say when the decisive moment is because there’s plenty of moments that come and I sit there looking and let it go. Sometimes the moment passes and it’s just about looking. “
How would you say the element of play informs your work and daily life?
Leevel: “I believe we can find play in anything that we do. It is a daily practice on how to navigate through life. Once we allow play in every action of our life we can find ourselves becoming more spontaneous and simply just acting without trying too hard. For me this practice is highly important to get more in tune with my higher self so that I can create from a place of non-resistance. Personally I like to believe that from this place we can create in the purest form since it can lead to a surprising creation for oneself but also in small spontaneous manifestations in our daily life.”
How has life in quarantine shaped your artistic practice?
Bachleda: “This strange time we’re all in has been oddly playful for our practice. I had some work with me that I originally brought from Tennessee to Holland for my art residency that I completed at the end of February. I also had the intention of making connections in Holland to try and exhibit some of the pieces but then the world turned upside down and I was eventually in quarantine with my partner, Robin Leevel. Then we thought “why not make our own art show here?” so here we are. Over the course of one month, I helped Robin frame some of his pieces and we would slowly move everything around on the walls. It was quite playful to have our art show in his flat. On my way into the kitchen I’d find myself rearranging a few pieces at a time and meditating on where the work functioned best. The layout changed almost daily it seems so it was pretty fun to use that time to see where this could go. We also had our lazy days as I’m sure everyone else in quarantine but it was nice to take our time to allow this to be where it is now.”
Leevel: “The biggest change in my artistic practice during quarantine so far has been that I have allowed myself to shoot with film photography again. This quarantine has made me think a lot about how the world has been running around too much and how I as a photographer have been shooting a lot in digital without specific intentions as well. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that because that also helped me to develop my vision as to what I am interested in within photography. But embracing film again after 7 years of not shooting it has been very liberating. I am more conscious of the shots that I take and through that process I am also slowing myself down to look at life as a photographer even better then before.”
Video documentation of the show. Please watch full screen with volume up!
Check out more of Robin Leevel’s work:
OBRAS Holland featuring owners Ludger and Carolein. They welcomed me in with a vegan feast, exchanged stories and left the following day. They are based in Portugal where they run OBRAS Portugal.
This past February I completed a one month residency in the village of Renkum through OBRAS Holland.
Finding peace in solitude.
A time and place for revision.
A month to exist slowly, reflect & piece together the here & now to prepare for what’s to come.
Obras, a Portuguese word for “work-in-progress” is exactly how this time felt. Not everything goes as planned but luckily my plans were left wide open as I allowed the world to show me what I would see here.
I found solace in the deep forest, beauty in the way the sun shines through the stained glass windows & very importantly made peace with myself as the universe forced me to slow down in the form of sickness. I did, however, manage to update my website, write a published review of a show I saw at the artist workspace Plaatsmaken and I completed a portfolio photo book of my favorite works between 2016-2019. I was even able to use the darkroom at Plaatsmaken to developed film and made some prints that I will share as soon as they are scanned.
Plaatsmaken is an amazing makers space in Arnhem, the closest big city to Renkum.
Mineral House Media, an online platform for contemporary art based in Tennessee, welcomed me to write reviews for shows I discovered while in Holland. Of course, nobody saw this pandemic coming (currently typing this whilst in quarantine) so this was the one show review I got to see and complete. Caught In A View by Utrecht based visual artist Choi Wong was on display and I immediately connected with her work. Writing about Choi’s work very much felt like a reflection of my own.
Here you will find the art review.
Plaatsmaken (right) nestled next to De Kroon windmill tower. Arnhem, NL
A collection of my pieces previously on exhibit at Fluorescent Gallery from my show In Search Of Lost Time. I brought some of the smaller pieces from the show all the way to this tiny village in Renkum. It was fun to see what the work looked like in a completely new setting. This display was intended to be a part of my artist talk that I sadly couldn’t complete because I got sick.
The stained glass windows in the home were absolutely incredible!!
A small gift to OBRAS Holland. A double exposure black and white film photograph taken during a road trip somewhere in Colorado, USA. I remember Ludger liked this one so I thought I’d add it to the house (that was already full of amazing work from previous artists).
Here’s a few photos inside the studio and the nearby forest :)
In May of 2018 I had the opportunity of accepting an art residency at Cill Rialaig in Ballinskelligs, Ireland which I quickly realized was one of the most remote parts of the world I had the pleasure of exploring and creating in.
Ballinskelligs is a typical rural Irish village. There’s two pubs, one cafe, one market and one post office. Most people who live there go into Cahersiveen (a 20 minute drive) if they need to shop. I rented a car from Dubln and made my way across to Galway, camped on the beach and the next day drove down along the Wild Atlantic Way, camped in the forest and continued into County Kerry where Ballinskelligs lies. I don’t think I ever saw so many sheep in my entire life. Also, Irish roads are tiny! And this was the first time I drove on the other side of the road so it was a bit crazy! Totally worth it though.
I only had the car for a few days. I figured I’d get there and stock up on food/supplies and then walk when needed (since the residency is so remote and the buses are sparse, they recommend people drive). The first few days I settled in and bought lots of food, drove to Cahersiveen and explored the colorful old misty town, found a “folk night” bar which consisted of a hand full of old men sitting around a table, drinking heavily and playing irish folk tunes. One day I explored Waterville (the next closest village) where I ate potato and leek soup at Peter’s Place Cafe where the owner Peter talked to me about the historical connections of last names for a long time. I didn’t even say much. Just sat and enjoyed my soup on a cold rainy day.. and he was going on and on about last names. I remember his son was working there. I at least think it was his son. He was probably 12.
Anyways, the residency was fantastic. I was given my own cottage and had the privacy and quiet to read, write and work on my art. Cill Rialaig is made up of 8 cottages, 6 for the artists, one laundry house and one communal space with a library.
I actually did much more writing than I had expected but I think it was the energy of that space. For the past 25 years or so, hundreds of writers (and many creatives, but lots of writers) have worked in that space. There was even a super old stone desk overlooking the water. Here, look at it on a sunny day vs. cloudy. Crazy huh?
There I was working on my book: Searching: pt. I which involves work from my series Ephemera (In-Between), travel moments and poetry. The book currently only exists in .pdf since sadly, Blurb did a horrible job printing and I am on the hunt for a new place to print and publish the book! Some other life things have gotten in the way, it hasn’t been my biggest priority, but alas, the book is DONE! It’s just not out into the world just yet. I will keep everyone posted when it is!!
Anyways, here’s a few nice moments on film.
A few of the artists from Cill Rialaig on a walk about .5km away from the cottages. We went to find the mysterious standing stones and I had a lovely encounter with some sheep :)
My friend Jolene on the top of the Cahergall Stone Fort. Many stone forts are found in the West of Ireland and they are notoriously hard to date. I remember on the information sign, this one said “It is likely that somebody of importance lived here 1,000 years ago.”… It’s likely but they aren’t really sure! Ha.
Here are some mobile moments of my cottage and the nearby area of Ballinskelligs and the surrounding villages, Cahersirveen and Valencia Island.
