Meet Lehna Huie

We were lucky to catch up with Lehna Huie recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lehna, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

I keep my creativity alive by continuing to make art by any means necessary. My art making process is deeply connected to my spirituality through prayer and dreaming.

Taking action through blocking out time to develop my works over time, in whatever free moments I have as a working single mother to a young child who serves artists and creatives as a full time advisor.

My practice translates what emerges in my imagination into reality through a variety of materials and explorations. I am inspired by all things around me and see things found in junk yards, personal memories and history as useful material.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Lehna Huie is a multidisciplinary artist and cultural worker of Jamaican heritage from New York City. Huie works in painting, installation and video on themes of diaspora, memory and fragmentation – through the lens of mysticism and wonder. Huie’s works weave collage, painting and sculptural forms that draw inspiration from Caribbean oral histories. Lehna’s practice includes work as a Legacy Specialist preserving intergenerational artists archives and oral histories.
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Drawing inspiration from Caribbean oral histories and dream landscapes, I transform material into visual meditations that evoke a sense of mysticism and wonder. My work is an ongoing exploration of memory, lineage, and the stories that shape us. Concentrated on tracing non-linear time and ritual, my compositions combine paint, textile scraps, paper, beads, shells, plant matter, and everyday objects to honor and personify the land and waters surrounding my roots.

I embed cultural symbols, folklore, family photographs, and treasured traditions varying in scale, medium, and surface – to shed light on the embodied remnants of the lived experiences of personal and collective histories within my lineage.

I aim to inspire conversations about cultural identity, migration and the ways we achieve belonging amidst a shifting world. Gathering unlikely pairings of accumulated materials, I often integrate drawings, projections, and video into my pieces to create unique approaches to representational portraiture.

The textures and layers in my work mimic the complexities of cultural heritage and embody the beauty and weight of ancestral narratives. Using ceremonial materials found in nature, family heirlooms, and recycled components, I combine painterly, sculptural, and collage – based – elements to create works that delve into themes of resistance and imagination.

Within my creative practice, I am excited about personal projects that allow me to dive into studio time. I am thrilled to be participating in some wonderful upcoming exhibitions, residencies and fellowships.

Outside of my art making practice, I am a fierce advocate for creatives and their stories. I work as an advisor for artists looking to broaden their experience in the arts through professional development focused on relationship building, growing in confidence and communication skills.

Please stay in touch at @Lehnahuie on instagram and visit my website at www.Lehnahuie.com to learn more about my work and current projects.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back, the main areas of knowledge that have been most impactful on my journey have been engaging in reflection as a means of ever evolving and improving, trusting intuition as a guiding force and moving with curiosity and discipline to step outside of one’s comfort zone to grow and stay motivated.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

I am blessed with an incredible variety of mentors who assist me in thinking outside of the box and staying on track in my creative practice. They each come from various walks of life that inspire me in many ways as an artist, woman and mother.

Centering wellness in all they do is the backbone of what makes their work so great. My mentors always remind me that the relationship is reciprocal – we are always learning from each other.

Abigail DeVille is a fierce artist who reminds me that imagination is at the core of all things art. She encourages me to get as wild as possible in the making, through playing with scale and materiality, unleashing the creative spirit. Experimental approaches have enhanced my multi-disciplinary process by diving into a visual language that expands far outside of traditional studio practices.

Abigail’s influence and perspective has broken me out of my shell , allowing all that comes to the surface to be seen and experienced by myself and those witnessing my work.

Nina Angela Mercer is an incredible artist whose work I greatly admire. I am thankful for her guidance in assisting me with weaving the spiritual, personal and political aspects of my artistic practice into all that I do. I am grateful for the ways in which Nina has inspired me through her commitment to her hauntingly beautiful works in every iteration and manifestation. Through her writing, plays and visual art, she reflects on the unseen worlds and draws them into this reality.

dequi kioni sadiki reminds me of the power of clarifying goals and moving towards them every step of the way while being mindful of capacity, endurance and our need to rest.

I am grateful for all ancestors and spirit guides of light who lead me on this life’s journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.Lehnahuie.com
• Instagram: @Lehnahuie
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtbyLehnaHuie/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lehna-huie/

Image Credits

ACRE Residency – Photographs by Kate Bowen