This installment is with a longtime friend of the program, the ever-talented and effervescent, Leila Spilman: A hustling business person, a working performance artist — and a compassionate community leader. Above all, Leila is a producer of vital creative energy. And being that she’s a former freestyle skier, it’s apt that Leila approaches the creative process with zero fear.
Leila’s new show, Sapovnela, opens at the 11 Newel Gallery in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on May 6, 2022 at 6pm. The Newel Gallery is located at 11 Newel, East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
ABOUT LEILA SPILMAN’S SAPOVNELA
Sapovnela, by Leila and Alden Spilman, presents abstract photographic prints and experimental video forming a conversation around the reflection and absorption of light and color — as well abstraction in photography and film.
Leila’s Grandfather, Alden Spilman was born on Nov 27, 1945 in Bronxville, NY — and currently resides in Brewster on Cape Cod. Since the late sixties, Alden has explored the application of photographic processes. He began shooting film and working in a traditional darkroom. As digital processes emerged, he began to manipulate his images with a laser photocopier and computer programming. As a grandparent, Alden recognized Leila's creative interest from an early age — and now the duo are elevating their work to new levels.
Leila Spilman was born in 1994 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She currently lives and works in Dayton, Ohio. Sapovnela explores subconscious influence through generations. Through contemporary curation of her grandfather's abstract photographs, came an inherit aesthetic. Spilman’s screen printed kirlian images are designed to create psychological reactions involving cognitive grasp.
Sapovnela’s images are printed using four primary pigments via a process call CMYK printing. The shapes and colors captured in a kirlian photograph are determined by the light's ability to travel through a subject — creating an inverted perspective. Spilman relates this process to the reality of generational influence in society.