Takeover #182 Lena Longefay
Lena Longefay: Instagram / Website
#182 (18/10 - 22/10, 2021) written by Robin Speijer / interview by Joris Broekhoven
Personal and collective relationships, the medieval ages, feminist theory and religion are all recurring themes in Lena Longefay’s work. She graduated in 2021 at the KABK, completing her master Artistic Research. Before this, she obtained a Bachelor for Fine Art in France.
“I like the position of an artist. You can do a bit of whatever you want without being categorized. You can act as a historian, scientist or journalist. This enables you to tackle a wider variety of subjects. Everything has the possibility of blending together within my practice.”
Lena describes her work as being an exercise of composition. She told us to imagine the themes and elements for her work to be circling around her, like a system of planets. Eventually certain themes align with each other, resulting in a work. Over and over the themes will align differently, resulting in different works. It’s to illustrate how all the sources she uses come together, are disassembled, and then come back together again differently. It’s a constantly continuing process.
“Physically my works look like installations, but it requires most of your non visual senses too: to hear, smell, touch. I don’t really have any media restrictions. I often use the word ‘precariousness’ to describe the things I build. A lot of it is not very strong and grounded, it’s very light and only just about holding together. That lightness makes it easier to, for example, talk about heavier subjects.”
The first audience Lena has in mind when creating a work are the people that directly surround her in daily life, her friends and family. Her work almost always directly relates to them. She anticipates how they would respond to what she’s made, and changes the work accordingly.
“I want to create a certain awareness about how we look at things and how we do things. I see it as a way to share a lot about the things that matter to me. I hope it can then be shared with others, and that those little stories keep traveling.”
During her takeover, Lena would like to focus on parts of her work instead of showing the whole at once. She will show us details and important themes. This could be about a medium she has used, or a series of actions that progressively changes. Let’s wait and see what she will share with us, and perhaps we can share it along!
“I like the position of an artist. You can do a bit of whatever you want without being categorized. You can act as a historian, scientist or journalist. This enables you to tackle a wider variety of subjects. Everything has the possibility of blending together within my practice.”
Lena describes her work as being an exercise of composition. She told us to imagine the themes and elements for her work to be circling around her, like a system of planets. Eventually certain themes align with each other, resulting in a work. Over and over the themes will align differently, resulting in different works. It’s to illustrate how all the sources she uses come together, are disassembled, and then come back together again differently. It’s a constantly continuing process.
“Physically my works look like installations, but it requires most of your non visual senses too: to hear, smell, touch. I don’t really have any media restrictions. I often use the word ‘precariousness’ to describe the things I build. A lot of it is not very strong and grounded, it’s very light and only just about holding together. That lightness makes it easier to, for example, talk about heavier subjects.”
The first audience Lena has in mind when creating a work are the people that directly surround her in daily life, her friends and family. Her work almost always directly relates to them. She anticipates how they would respond to what she’s made, and changes the work accordingly.
“I want to create a certain awareness about how we look at things and how we do things. I see it as a way to share a lot about the things that matter to me. I hope it can then be shared with others, and that those little stories keep traveling.”
During her takeover, Lena would like to focus on parts of her work instead of showing the whole at once. She will show us details and important themes. This could be about a medium she has used, or a series of actions that progressively changes. Let’s wait and see what she will share with us, and perhaps we can share it along!