Megan-Leigh Heilig

Artist statement:

Through the subjective and personal experiences of my individual voice and that of the storyteller, the film essay shows a history aware of its own historical inaccuracy. History is written by the victors, and so perhaps it can never truly be an accurate representation. This is the position of the essay film as I see it; between subjectivity and ‘objectivity’ lies something in-between. It is through this in-between space of uncertainty and indeterminacy, that the film essay as an art medium presents the possibility to imagine different futures and re-imagine the past.

Megan's work consists of a range of diverse mediums and collaborative practices; including multi-layered installations consisting of sculpture, printmaking, photography, video and film. Her work often starts with a dream, memory, or a personal story that she has experienced or fictionalized. She uses these reflections as a starting point to further engage broader socio-political concerns. She uses her work as a way to test, experiment, and, ask questions about history and power in the formation of identities. Sometimes these questions have to do with the uncertainty of memory, the abuse of power and the negotiation of responsibility. Sometimes they have to do with love, collaboration and artistic exchange. She records and edits images, creates objects and installations, that reflect on the in-between spaces, by layering narratives, images, situations and experiences that engage shifting positions of power in relationships and everyday conversation.

Born in 1993 in Nelspruit South Africa, Megan-Leigh Heilig grew up in Johannesburg, graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a Bachelor in Fine Art (BFA) in 2015. In 2017 she completed her Masters in Fine Art (MFA) with distinction at the University of Cape Town. She is currently pursuing advanced practice-based research at the Higher Institute of Fine Art (HISK) in Gent, Belgium. Megan has exhibited in the Seven Hills 2nd Kampala Biennale: Virtual Mobilities 2016, curated by Elise Atangana, with a focus on selected video. In 2016 she was nominated for Best Experimental Film in the Top Indie Film Awards (2016); as well as for Best Experimental Film in the Top Indie Film Awards (2016); and participated in the Bad Video Art Festival, Moscow, Russia (2016). In 2017 was selected for KraftaDoc Film Festival in Glasgow; The International Video Art House Madrid (IVAHM), curated by Nestor Prieto; I Want to Show You Something, Cape Town, South Africa (2018); 30th Instants Vidéo Numériques et Poétiques
International Videoart Festival, Marseille France(2017); MADATAC 2017, Madrid, Spain (2017); 17 Days Video Series (Vol. 10), New York and Michigan, United States of America (2017); Abuja International Film Festival, Abuja, Nigeria (2017); and Art for Living Space, CICA Museum (Czong Institute for Contemporary Art), Gimpo-Si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (2017). In 2017 she also participated in the Digital Africa project between YaPhoto and Open Source curated by Christine Eyene; a series of video art screening in London, Tokyo, and Yaounde. In 2018 she participated in a group exhibition titled Somewhere In Between at BOZAR in Brussels; The Antwerp Queer Arts Festival; Painting the Spectrum: LGTTQ+ Film Festival, Georgetown, Guyana (2018); Women Make Waves Film Festival, Taiwan, (2018); Rites of Exchange: performance Lecture Series, ISELP, Brussels, Belgium (2018); Pyrenees Spur, Aragonese Pyrenees, Spain (2018); Out and Loud Queer Film Festival, Pune, India (2018); I Want to Show You Something, Cape Town, South Africa (2018). Megan has intervened in project and public spaces through various other site specific and collaborative projects.