Angelica Babiera | Contributor
Featured image: Leah Borges (top middle), a fourth-year visual arts and art history student at York, shares her work, inspiration and artistic process with York. | Photos courtesy of Leah Borges
York is filled with talented artists, photographers, directors, musicians and designers, and we here at Excalibur want to shed some light on these unknown artists. Our York Artist Spotlight this week is triple-threat Leah Borges, a fourth-year visual arts and art history student at York with an impressive photography, drawing and painting portfolio. Borges has been fascinated with the arts ever since she can remember and attributes her current dedication to her family and teachers. An avid student of the arts, she believes that passion is the key to the success of any artist but also sights the need for practice and development.
“There are times where I am really into my paintings, or get inspired to do different drawings,” says Borges. Like any multi-skilled artist, Borges has a difficult time choosing her favourite medium. “It also depends on the different classes and courses I’m taking that semester because that’s what I’ll be working on. But if I had to choose, I think it would be hard because painting is drawing. I don’t think I take as many photos as much as I paint and draw, though.
“I’ve always liked [Edgar] Degas’ work,” says Borges. “I’m a big fan of traditional art more than contemporary. I like Degas’ painting styles and his paintings of ballerinas, which is a subject I like to paint as well. But I also do get inspired by modern artists, especially people on Instagram or YouTube. I like fairytale themes—things that are very ethereal—and old, vintage films. I get really into creating art from doing the things I really like, and drawing or painting people I really look up to, like Audrey Hepburn. What I tend to focus on are dancers, anything enchanted and things that represent the past.
“I actually used to dance,” adds Borges. “When I went to university, painting and taking photos of dancers was a way of keeping dance in my life. But I also tended to lean on ballerinas especially because I always saw them as a representation of perfection. It was always subject matter or concept on my art because I am a perfectionist. There’s just something I find so beautiful about them.”
“I usually start with the inspiration and the idea,” continues Borges, commenting on the process of translating dancers and other subject matter into drawings and paintings. “If it’s something I need to get proportions right, like a face, and I want it to be accurate, I usually use a grid system and it just helps with measurements. I also really like to work in layers. So, I start with a rough layer and that’s always something that’s scary because it doesn’t look like much, then I bring in the colours and whatnot. The background is something I really like to play with. I find that I don’t look at an image for that. I just like to use my imagination and that’s what makes my work look surreal most of the time.
“[Degas] used a lot of brush strokes, so when I’m in the mood for something a little more loose looking, I just do his brush strokes. I just really have to be free and try to let go a little bit and not be so precise. It’s just a matter of improving with each new painting.”
Borges feels that the wide range of courses she has taken at York, along with practicing, has made her a well-rounded artist. “That’s another thing about York. You’re going to feel connected to so many people because there are so many different majors. You have the ability to collaborate with others.”
