There can be a steady drip of water that, over time, creates canyons or a flash flood that comes swiftly and unexpectedly changing the landscape instantly. Like rebirth the change can be slow and steady or swift and spontaneous. Regardless, it is a process – sometimes gentle, sometimes unbearable.
On a personal level I lost my brother this month four years ago and my sister less than a year ago. They have joined my parents and too many others. I try to connect to them. I try to feel their presence. I try to live. With my sibling’s deaths the change was abrupt and difficult and the pain sometimes unbearable – a new reality. I am forever changed. Now the metamorphosis of my life seems slow and steady while I process.
For me, rebirth is reconnection to consciousness, a new connection, a new awakening. In this installation, I attempt to provide a space reimagining my waterfall installations with a more intimate relationship to the splashes and the mindful beings going through the portals – who are perhaps us. …
Spotlight on Artist Bert Leveille
For artist Bert Leveille, Rebirth is not necessarily a dramatic transformation. It can happen quietly—in moments of reflection, realization and renewed connection.
Leveille’s work in Emergence 3 – Rebirth features pieces from the artist’s Splash Series, which includes emerging, mindful beings and is intended to be experienced from multiple perspectives.
“Water symbolizes life and facilitates birth and rebirth,” Leveille explains. “For me, rebirth is a reconnection to consciousness.”
Finding Inspiration Through Reflection
Leveille describes the creative process as intuitive, looking to the collective consciousness for inspiration and guidance. Reflection has also become an increasingly important part of the work.
Rather than creating simply for viewers to observe, Leveille hopes the artwork encourages a deeper personal response.
“I am hoping viewers will feel a connection to our shared consciousness.”
Art as a Connection Through Grief
For Leveille, the process of creating art has also become deeply intertwined with experiences of loss and grief.
“The process sparks responses of pain, acknowledgment and reflection,” Leveille says.
At times, images and memories of loved ones unexpectedly emerge in the work—a brother’s face appearing in a painting, a series evolving into a reflection on Leveille’s mother, or the creative process bringing a sense of connection to a recently lost sister.
Creating through grief is not always easy. There are times when the weight of loss makes it difficult to work at all. But when Leveille is able to move through that barrier, art can become cathartic.
After the death of Leveille’s father, a solo exhibition was already scheduled just two weeks later. While preparing for the show, Leveille felt compelled to create a sculpture.
“I cried while I was making it,” Leveille recalls. “It became myself and my Dad, but I was the adult holding him, the child, up to the sky.”
The exhibition ultimately became a tribute to him.
What Does Rebirth Mean?
Leveille sees rebirth not as one enormous, life-changing event, but as an ongoing evolution.
“It’s little moments of clarity,” Leveille says. “More like aha moments that spark determination, will and resolve.”
Loss, Leveille explains, is not something that simply disappears. Instead, creating art provides a way to maintain a connection with those who are gone and to experience a continued sense of their presence.
That connection can reach viewers as well. One person viewing Leveille’s work shared that she could see her entire family within it.
For Leveille, those moments reinforce the idea that grief, connection and renewal are universal parts of the human experience.
“Loss and grief are a part of our human experience that forms who we are—maybe gives us a depth of character.”
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