We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bert Leveille. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bert below.
Bert, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
“WATERFALL PORTALS” is a project in progress — The first exhibition with paintings, synchronized lighting and projected animation was September of 2023. I believe one person’s awakening can send a stream of enlightenment into the Universe similar to a steady drip of water creating a canyon. Both are vital. We search the universe for water and for consciousness.
I see waterfalls as portals for mindful beings traveling the waterfalls of the universe. The sound of rushing water cascading over the edge and pounding the surface below; mindful beings, not necessarily human — no specific gender, nationality, race or age, emerge from inside the waterfalls. White noise is a backdrop for colorful visuals vacillating from illusive abstractions to vibrant figurative forms.
As I attempt to connect to various states of consciousness, I begin the artworks like large mural-sized watercolors. I find images in the flowing colors much like images in clouds. One of the paintings in the video is “crossover”. Mindful beings emerge and stories unfold. Are the figures protecting, escaping, soaring, overcoming…? My experiences filter through me into my art. I am witness to amazing human interactions, but I can’t ignore brutal treatment of fellow beings. Are they (we) crossing over? Is society crossing over? Are we awakening consciousness? Can we enter portals of the past, present, and future?
In my artistic journey, I have had the privilege of bringing my installations to life in unique and captivating ways. I have employed smoke, video, animation, 3D elements, and sound. Waterfalls are new canvases and textures.
This is the most meaningful project I’ve worked on, and continue to work on. In part, because it was the first exhibition for this project in search of awakening consciousness — exploring waterfall portals in both physical and metaphysical ways. Projecting individual custom video onto selected actual waterfalls will add fascination and unique visuals as the colors change and the water moves. My vision includes immersive multi-media gallery installations to complement on-site waterfall projections.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
At age seven, my artwork was not chosen to be displayed on the bulletin board, so I abandoned art as my life’s work, and aspired to be an actress and own a theater! That being said, I went to Elmhurst College to study theater. Aside from loving the smell of the grease paint and a fascination with the stage, I did not fit. But, I quickly rediscovered visual art, my connection to it, and ability to do it — visual art became my life’s work. While I created and exhibited my personal art, I worked as a graphic designer — owner of a design studio, the graphic design director for one of the top 10 lobbying national federations, and a designer for a national corporation. I have always felt that the structure of design and the freedom of making art complemented and enhanced these related but somewhat divergent disciplines. And circling back, I believe my love of the stage explains my desire to create immersive art installations.
I am now able to pursue my art making full-time. My installation, experimentation, exhibition, incubation studio is a must-see experience during 4th Fridays Art Exhibition and Open Studios at Starline in Harvard, IL. Visitors view my latest artworks and installation concepts employing mural size paintings, sound, sequenced colored lighting, animation, video and projections before they are seen in traditional exhibition spaces. In 2023, I was given the amazing opportunity to bring this work into larger diverse spaces at Starline. From April through October of that year, seven memorable and impactful one-night exhibitions reached many more visitors than my individual studio would have accommodated.
These labor intensive, time sensitive, monthly exhibitions were challenging for me and my assistant. Regardless of the immediate nature of “pop-ups” versus the more traditional planning and preparation of a gallery exhibition, I strove to provide the same quality experience as my month long exhibitions at the Old Court House Gallery and The Art Center Highland Park in 2019. Each installation is site specific with new challenges and opportunities. Starline is a large renovated factory with several installation space options.
I began with “the END is the beginning”. It was first installed at the Old Court House Arts Center in 2015. It was a favorite of my brother’s, who had assisted me on many of my installations. He passed in 2022. To reinstall this in a new venue seemed the perfect initiation for this new series. Subsequent installations included art dealing with the social consequences of covid: “Fractals”, and “Isolation”. The “WALL” inherently responded to social issues and separation while touching on “crossing over” — physically, emotionally and psychologically. The sixth installation, “Waterfall” is the first installation for my current project “Waterfall Portals”.
The finale of the season was massive in space, preparation, logistics and scope of artwork. The location in the Starline building for this install was changed leaving only a week to plan. Adapting is part of the game; turning a negative into a positive — this new space proved worthy of the added stress. Visitors strolled through a 120 foot corridor of “DREAMS”… and/or nightmares. Snippets of reality were found in fleeting, surreal images that trigger emotions uniquely personal yet universal. Synchronized LED colored lighting changes some images causing them to disappear, reappear and even move. In this immersive installation, we observe the dream, are in the dream, or become the dream.
Through my immersive art installations, I have been able to deeply connect with audiences and explore complex themes. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, I adapted and continued to share my work with a wider audience. Each installation is a testament to my passion for art and the power of creativity to evoke emotions and provoke thoughts. As I look ahead, I am excited to continue pushing the boundaries of art and creating impactful experiences for all who engage with my work.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
When I began making art, my purpose was to offer the viewer an escape from the suffering I observed in the world — a respite. My fascination with the stage and the different spaces, and worlds that could be created led me on a path of creating immersive installations — experiences with the intent of connecting people to themselves, their world, other worlds, and perhaps the universe. I am on a quest to discover consciousness and assist with the awakening of consciousness on our planet with connections to the universe. I have always relied on my subconscious and connection to the collective consciousness to guide me in my work; and I do so today.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I am so glad you asked this question! While I am creating, I’m always rewarded and surprised when I discover something I seemingly had no control over — an image, an unexpected effect, or an emotion. However, when I see the wonder in a child observing the art, or witness a man with tears in his eyes. When I am told: “I could have stayed in there forever”; “the work is life-changing”, or that it is “unnerving in the best way”; that it “made me feel almost like I was losing my sense of reality”; or was “like walking in to another place”; that “I see my entire family up in that corner”; “this moved my soul”… These reactions are why I do what I do. I want to facilitate connections to our self, to others, and to our world and the greater universe. The most rewarding aspect for me is the viewer’s response.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bertleveille.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bertleveilleartist
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bert-leveille-visual-artist-56967468259/
- Other: WATERFALL PORTALS on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/517356934 Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/bertleveille Linktree: https://linktr.ee/bertleveille STARLINE INSTALLATIONS: https://bertleveille.com/blexhibit_installs_light_starline-2023.html
Image Credits
Victoria Senn Eldon Schulz