Episode 9: Leyla Stevens – Uncovering the power of image-making and storytelling
The saying “A picture’s worth a thousand words” speaks to the multiplicity of stories, ideas and perspectives in an image. Every place, every object, every being has a story within them. And when they are stitched together in a series of images (or moving images), we are invited to reflect more deeply on what is visible and invisible. In this conversation, I invited my good friend, artist, and filmmaker Leyla Stevens. Leyla is an Australian-Balinese artist who works within moving image and photography. We spoke about the power of image and filmmaking in uncovering and disrupting histories left hidden in our surroundings. We also reflect on Leyla’s relationship and research into her Balinese heritage having grown up in Australia, and the power of image making and storytelling in contemporary society today.
About Leyla Stevens
Leyla Stevens is an Australian-Balinese artist who works within a lens-based practice. Her practice is informed by ongoing concerns around place, archives, spatial encounters, and transculturation. Working within modes of representation that shift between documentary and speculative fictions, her interest lies in the recuperation of counter histories within dominant narratives. Leyla’s video works shift and blur the boundaries between documentary and speculative fiction, focusing particularly on Bali’s shared histories with Australia as well as the island’s changing landscape.
Find out more at leylastevens.com
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.