Rebecca Lejić-Tiernan
Rebecca Lejić-Tiernan is a lens-based artist residing in Los Angeles, CA.
Rebecca Lejić-Tiernan is one of ArtConnect’s Artists to Watch '22
Rebecca Lejić-Tiernan is a Serbian-Irish-American artist whose work explores the challenges of identity formation in our modern, often contradictory, world. Her work regularly focuses on the effect identity has on perception, the recursive female gaze, cognitive dissonance and its social implications, and the memorialization of our natural world.
Her work has been shortlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize and she has exhibited her film works internationally including Cannes Film Festival with Straight8, Altered Images Festival, US Super8 and Digital Video Festival, Back_Up Film Festival in Weimar Germany, AXW Film Festival, IMC Lab + Gallery NYC, and Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena CA, among others.
ArtConnect asked the winning artists to share with us a glimpse into their creative life to get a sense of their personal inspiration and artistic process.
How would you describe your artistic style and what inspires your work?
I would describe my artistic style as one that sits on the boundary of allurement and unease. I love how something can be visually captivating and yet entirely destructive, or melancholic, in its meaning or intent. What inspires my work are themes of contradiction, understanding my own East-West immigrant identity, and how emotional attachments to one's sense of self shape perception.
How has your work evolved over time?
Over time, I believe that my work has become more mature, more deliberate yet open to change, and more evocative. I have more trust in myself and in experimenting with intention.
Yulia Topchiy
Curator
“Rebecca Lejić-Tiernan carries through her poetic work a glimpse of preservation of natural beauty, gentleness, and appreciation of what is around us, and yet instills her presence in the environment she creates. Her photographic works have a fleeting quality and require the viewer to pause and become more observant of our surroundings, pointing to what is disappearing and needs our immediate attention before it fleets forever.”
What message or emotion do you hope to convey through your art?
I hope that the viewer experiences ambivalence without judgment. That multiple realities, beliefs, or feelings can all co-exist. I also hope to cultivate an awareness of how one reacts to these oppositions may influence one's view or sense of agency.
Can you talk about a specific piece or series that holds a special significance to you?
I am working on a photography series of handmade props made from flowers, plants, and moss. I stage the clothing and bodily ornaments in various landscapes and capture the image with a medium-format camera. I will also elaborate on these visuals to make a film and sculptural moving-image piece. It's significant to me since I am exploring phenomenons of othering, engulfing, and enmeshment that I've experienced within my own immigrant identity.
What does this work aim to touch on?
The work may touch upon various topics such as the uncanny valley, climate grief, earth-body, land art, or maybe even eco-horror to varying eyes. Depending on who is doing the perceiving, it should evoke different ideas. In many ways, this series is about my relationship with myself and others as an immigrant and how it feels to not be from where you come from.
What is your process for creating a new piece of art?
My process for creating new art might be akin to dream analysis or similar to figuring out why a specific memory is being recalled over some time. It starts with a visually strong image that may be spectacular at first glance, but when I spend more time with that image, something else, something much darker, is happening. I then start to make that image, and as I'm making it, I understand its significance.
Raul Rodriguez
Curator
“Rebecca Lejić-Tiernan’s work brings into question the simulacra of lens based technology and media as it affects today’s social landscape. In a world saturated with images, Lejić-Tiernan uses photography and video to inquire their truths as they relate to the natural world and examines our understanding and concerns over what is real, what is not, and what is simply a beautiful mirage.”
How do you stay motivated and inspired in your artistic practice?
By taking care of my mental health- ha! It's true that art imitates life and vice versa. I stay motivated and inspired by my friends and by understanding their points of view, seeing new and old artwork in person, reading, and watching films that keep me attuned to the life I'm living.
How do you balance your artistic career with the business aspect of being an artist?
Great question, as I think it is harder for lens-based artists to make a living from their work than for painters. From what I see, there is a fork in the art market between what is "art" and what is "artisan." Do I go for the art prizes, grant funding, and institutional prestige? Or should I rent out a booth at an art fair and push to sell my work for someone else to own? Maybe I can do both? As someone who creates moving-image work that isn't meant to sell as an art-for-home piece, I think it's important to focus on the first path. I am more interested in gaining institutional appreciation than selling (at this moment). I believe that the more recognition you earn, the right buyers will come.
I am more interested in gaining institutional appreciation than selling. I believe that the more recognition you earn, the right buyers will come.
What advice do you have for aspiring artists who are just starting out in their careers?
Don't take anyone's advice- what works for you may not work for others. Beware of scams, and be aware of where your attention is.
