Leah Bury
Do you ever feel like you have too many creative hobbies? It's not a problem for prolific creative Leah Bury.
Leah follows inspiration wherever it takes her—from writing to photography, from collage to music (we're celebrating her first single over here). I'm excited to share a glimpse into her artistic multi-verse here.
Amy Lohr: As a highly inspired person, how do you navigate the overwhelm that can come with too many ideas?
Leah Bury: I navigate the overwhelm that comes with too many ideas by creating separation between the time of gathering inspiration and the time for actually creating and doing something with said inspiration. I've learned to give myself space to let the flood of inspiration come in, and find a way to capture it without immediately needing to see it to fruition. I see myself now as a forager of inspiration that I gather for later use and incorporation into projects.
AL: How do you choose the themes you work with in your art?
LB: I choose the themes I work with in my art based on my own personal experiences, and / or topics I want to explore or shed light on. For me, art is a way of exploring and distilling complexity down into something simpler, something that others can see themselves reflected in. I believe that our greatest work comes when we're willing to explore shadows, so I tend to explore topics that live more in the shadow realm for me, and hope to help others do the same.
AL: How has curating works of other artists influenced your own expression?
LB: Curating works of other artists has really helped me own my multi-passionate nature, because I can curate a show surrounding a certain topic or theme, and have such a wide range of mediums and messages, yet still maintain a sense of cohesion. And that makes me feel like it's ok to experiment, to invest first and foremost in the story I'm trying to tell and to not get too married to one medium or method.
AL: What's been the biggest internal fear you've had to move through in order to fully pursue your creative passions?
LB: I would say the biggest internal fear I've had to move through is the fear of being seen or being perceived. It's strange because at my core I deeply want to be known and understood, and yet I have this fear or discomfort around being in the spotlight, or giving people fodder to make assumptions about me that I don't have a chance to clarify. In order to truly embrace my creativity, I have had to shed those fears, or at least get more comfortable coexisting with them, because I want to share authentically and I can't do that without opening myself up to judgement or perceptions.
AL: You're venturing boldly and brilliantly into the music world. What pulled you into this new medium?
LB: I've loved music so deeply for my entire life, but always held myself back from pursuing it for some reason… I thought it was too late.
But over the last few years I've become friends with many musicians, and being in their creative space with them, getting into some riffing and jamming, really inspired me and made me realize I was simply denying myself the joy of creating in that medium. So one day, I decided to just go for it, get some equipment, and explore. That was almost a year ago and now I have a full album.
Leah Bury is a multi-passionate creative who strives to create art that makes people think, consider new perspectives, appreciate beauty in the mundane, and feel connected to one another. Her work spans various mediums, including analog and digital photography, collage, scanography, graphic design, poetry, and most recently, music. Leah is also an event producer and curator, having curated a dozen pop-up art galleries and co-founded Slow Fashion Festival.
Learn more about Leah and her work at leahbury.com and follow her fantastically colorful work @leah.creative on IG.
