Léna Lewis-King
Directing
Biography
Léna Lewis-King (London, 1999) is an artist filmmaker whose work explores intersections between systems of production and construction, feminist post-humanist theory, phenomena of experience, ecologies, and technologies. She studied Film at Kingston University in London and received support from Channel 4's Random Acts program, in partnership with ICA London, to begin her artistic practice as a filmmaker. Her work, framed through a feminist lens, explores the mystical and spiritual dimensions of lived experiences. Through mediums such as film, photography, painting, drawing, collage and installation, she considers the proliferation of technocapitalist acceleration on the ephemeral essence of life. Her works are exhibited in international exhibitions, screenings, and lectures. Among her recent exhibitions is the group show at Museu Bordalo Pinheiro of July 2024, alongside her solo show “Dell’historia Naturale” held at Rua das Gaivotas 6 in Lisbon in 2023. She has also previously participated in group exhibitions such as “This is Not a Chance Encounter” at the Journeys Festival in the UK (2022), “Sequência de Sonhos” at Lisbon Art Weekend in Portugal (2022), and “Io Dico Io” at La Galleria Nazionale in Italy (2021). Her films have been showcased at venues and festivals such as the London Short Film Festival, Waking Life, Figura Avulsa, Carpintarias São Lázaro, Fondazione Giuliani, Soho House Rome, Chisenhale Gallery, Roundhouse London, BFI London, South London Gallery, and many others. In addition to her artistic activity, Léna Lewis-King is actively involved in organizing group events, such as screenings and book clubs, through Apertura Institute based in Lisbon, with the aim of connecting people worldwide, and is a co-founder of the association FutureCultures.
Known For
Through exploring the body as a landscape, 'The Copper Kings' plays with visual metaphors that connect the patriarchal philosophy and process of extraction to the dissection of our own bodies.
The Copper Kings
Filmed during lockdown 2020, ‘de Luz/Of Light’ explores fleeting perceptions and cyclic rituals of Portuguese coastal landscapes, specifically surrounding the Cabo Sardão Lighthouse in Beja, and constructs a complex audio-visual narrative through collaging together various natural rhythms (such as the sun and motion of the sea). This film is intended for screening with a 16:27 aspect ratio. The soundtrack was composed by sound artist Michelle Lewis-King.
de Luz
'Figure I' uses a feminist perspective to frame and deconstruct patriarchal techniques of control. This film asks: how was a patriarchal gaze construct-ed, and how has it come to effect biological processes? How have specific tools (like Dürer's Grid) come to shape our technological present and possible futures? Are modern Western scientif-ic/mathematic/technological/medical structures rooted in extractive patriarchal philosophies? 'Figure 1' is composed of re-drawn illustrations of allegorical art historical paintings and etchings, alongside archival footage, Obstetric photography, and rotoscoped animation.
Figure 1
Filmed over a period of 3 years, this video work is a meditation on the borderline of the river Tejo, between Marvila and Barreiro. A psychogeographic piece that seeks out a feeling of doubt, inertia, and waiting. "Two sides, along the boundary line All the weight of the water above Metal arms extended to the heavens As if the sky was tilting to meet them And those giants again; Four by four . . . . all in a line, up against the tide."
To Cross; One Nail, Metal Spit
From Salt to Soil is hour long audiovisual project bringing together the sounds of USOF & Zarya with the words of Joana Coelho and Madalena Anjos, directed and edited by Léna Lewis-King. The film follows the landscapes from Barreiro to Crato, layered with notations, inner and outer worlds - tracing the geographic / poetic, with transportive and hypnotic sound scapes. It was made for the 2025 edition of Waking Life festival, where it debuted as the opening event for their cinema programme, Moonscreen.
From Salt to Soil
"Untitled Sequence", is an artist film that explores the material processes of filmmaking such as visual narration, cinematography, soundtrack creation and film editing from the perspective of a young female artist – a perspective that is still under-represented in conventional filmmaking. The film engages with contemporary issues of identity and allegories of artistic practice, and is influenced by Jean Cocteau and Maya Deren’s films (particularly their creation of visual ‘dreamscapes’), Nobuhiko Ôbayashi (especially his editing processes) and Lee Miller’s embodiment of both the artist and the artist’s muse in her work both in front of and behind the camera.