Interview with Leyla Milou

In 2020, at a time when the world was at a standstill due to the pandemic, Leyla Milou found her unique visual language and liberation. Since then, she has been obsessed with expressing herself artistically, creating over 120 paintings and sculptures in two years. Her works are not only an omen to femininity but a celebration of vitality that defies stagnation.

At her first exhibitions, art experts rated her works unusually high right from the start, and she succeeded in inspiring art collectors and attracting international attention. She sold several paintings within a short time at her first exhibitions.

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Why did you decide to pursue an artistic career?

See, artistic creation is a vocation for me. I can't turn off my creativity; it has to come out of me like lava from a volcano. The career started with a step into the public eye and the overwhelming response to it.

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What inspires your work every day?

I am fascinated by people. Their bodies, their emotions, and their stories seduce me again and again. This enormous diversity inspires my work in the most diverse ways.

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What themes do you address in your art, and why is that so important to you?

My art is meant to enchant and remind us how enjoyable life is. My work not only reminds the viewer of life's energetic moments but also of what is missing. This dispute with ourselves is necessary to revitalize us. Too many people remain in a state of dissatisfaction or are in a constant search. I miss the passion and individuality in our society. My art is meant to awaken them.

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What aspect of the creative process do you like best?

Playing and dancing with my imagination. I have a vision, and while painting, I redefine it in response to what is happening. What I like about this process is the letting go and the dynamics behind it.

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How would you describe your technique?

I combine abstract and figurative painting. My style is therefore best described as expressionist figuration. My technique is characterized by dynamism and experimentation. Repetition bores me. I cannot reduce myself to one technique or style.

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Do you start your work with a preconceived concept or idea of what you want to achieve, or is the result unexpected?

The result is always unexpected. My hand is intuitively guided in painting by what is going on in my body and mind in that exact moment. Therefore, each painting tells the story of an intimate moment between my imagination and the canvas, like a brief affair.

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How do you know or decide when a work of art is finished?

When do you know you should end a relationship? When it becomes too exhausting, it no longer moves them forward, or there's nothing left to say.

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What other creative people, books, music, or movies inspire you?

In general, I am inspired by passionate and characteristic personalities who are in a discussion with what they do and are without overestimating themselves. That's why I love philosophy, soul, and comedies – shaken AND stirred.

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Do you have certain rituals or indispensable objects in your studio?

My studio is my living space. Convivial evenings with friends between brushes, wine, and canvas are part of it. For this reason, my sofa is very important to me and the stories that take place on it. I can also rest on it when I stay too long in the studio again.

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Do you work with real-life examples, or are your works mainly based on fantasy?

I express what I feel and what comes out of me. I react spontaneously and reinterpret the motif. My imagination plays an important role in this. That is why I speak of expressionist figuration. Only the detachment from the classical realistic craft empties me.

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How do you come up with the titles of your artworks?

The titles of my works are an attempt to capture my thoughts during their creation. They are part of my reflection.

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Would you tell us more about your current project? What are you working on?

I am working on a yellow series called "under my sun". In it, I tell about sexuality in its natural and uninhibited form without social and religious deformations.

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Where would you like to exhibit one day and why?

The exhibition location is irrelevant to me. What matters are the people who engage with my art.

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Where do you see your career as an artist in five years?

What are five years compared to my life's work?

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Visit Leyla Milou's website now:

https://www.leylamilou.com