To Vima

To Vima is a Greek weekly newspaper. Leah was interviewed for their Grace section. Below is a translation of the interview without accompanying photography, but the original article in Greek can be read (along with images) on To Vima’s website.

We spent a day with Leah Wood, the daughter of the legendary Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones, who transforms Greek nature into art. Inspired by the light and textures of Greece, her canvases tell stories of environmental awareness and creative heritage.

BY CINDY HATZI
PHOTOGRAPHER LEFTERIS SIARAPIS
FASHION DESIGNER / STYLING HARA LEMPESI
MAKEUP / HAIRSTYLE MARIANNA YENTI

12 Dec 2024

Athens in December still shines under the sun, a city where the old meets the new with every step. Here, among the old marbles and modern thrones of civilization, I met Leah Wood. Artist, activist, daughter of the legendary Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones, she looks like an urban elf. With her huge smile and ethereal presence, she is direct, approachable and with a natural dose of humor that instantly breaks the ice.

We are in Nyn Esti, at the National Museum of Contemporary Art, where Leah Wood came to work on a new exhibition to be presented in 2025. Her collaboration with Ada Iliopoulou, president of the international cultural movement Le Soleil Foundation, unites her art with Greek nature, more specifically with the butterflies of Rhodes. "The landscape there was wild, rough and full of textures," she tells me, letting the emotions of her contact with the Greek land show. When Leah Wood first came into contact with Rhodian nature during a holiday, she knew this would be the next theme of her exhibition.

So, for several months she lived between London and Rhodes in order to complete a series of works, with butterflies - the artist's trademark and eternal Muse. "When I came to Athens, I found the landscape greener, with impressive rocks and unique light. I will take this experience with me and hope to incorporate it into future drawings and paintings", she says, and her gaze already seems to travel to future creations.

Leah is an artist who plays with the boundaries of painting and sculpture. It uses techniques and materials that combine the past with the future, highlighting the relationship between man and the environment. Her paintings escape the prison of the two-dimensional. On the contrary, they are embossed, veinous, rough, almost reminiscent of sculptures.

Her style includes a unique combination use of traditional oils, acrylics, glue, chalk and cling film. Through this technique, Wood wants to highlight the problem of pollution from single-use plastics and their devastating impact on the environment. The process that emerges from her works is a complex sequence of construction, deconstruction and reconstruction, depicted through the materials and levels of the surface. I ask her to explain to us the process she follows to create this effect.

"I start by drawing the original shape with charcoal. Then I pour glue over and around the silhouette of the butterfly. Then, I start tearing the cling film into various sizes and shaping it into the shape of a butterfly on the canvas. This is left to dry for 1-2 days. When dry, the painting process begins, adding successive layers of paint to create the shades you see. Then resin is mixed and poured into the appropriate places, creating greater depth and texture in the work. Thus, there is a basic layer of cling film, a middle layer of color and the upper layer of resin, which creates a sculptural painting." Leah analyzes her process in the same way she describes her own art: multidimensional, complex and full of emotional intensity.

I ask her about her favorite work from the upcoming exhibition. "Leptidea White," he replies. Leptidea White is a white butterfly found in Cretan nature in large grasslands, forests, clearings and sparse pine forests. By a beautiful coincidence, this particular butterfly has a second name... Wood White!

But Leah's art isn't just aesthetically beautiful (who doesn't love butterflies, after all?). It is political, activist, full of social and environmental message. "Questions have been asked about the use of plastic in my projects. However, I use it for a good cause: to show how humans create a dangerous environment for wildlife. It is something meaningful and targeted, as the cling film will remain forever in the artwork, as it would in the environment." Thus, her works emerge as an angry cry for change, full of the consciousness that nature, like art, has no limits and cannot be hidden.

The conversation continues with Leah analyzing her relationship with digital art and NFTs. "Seeing my works up close, you understand their essence," she says confidently. "NFTs don't have a sense of matter. My works stand the test of time, and that's something that matters to me." The global environmental crisis is often presented as a battle between hope and despair. I ask her if she thinks that shock and a sense of urgency are more powerful weapons than hope in the struggle for change. She disagrees. "I really believe in hope. I would not want to cause shock or fear through my works and this will only be understood by observing them closely."

He continues: "My works deal with climate change through the element of plastic. At the moment there is a huge plastic pollution in the sea, which requires the cooperation of the whole world to deal with it. With my works, I highlight the problem of plastic pollution using plastic itself as a medium. It's not environmentally friendly, but it highlights an important issue."

And as we discuss the future, the past, and her work, Leah reveals her thoughts on her father, Ronnie Wood, and how family legacy can help, limit, and shape you. I ask her if it offends her when her name is accompanied by that of her father, and if she has ever felt that her achievements are overlooked by the world. "This is bound to happen, but over the years I've learned to accept it and grow. My dad is an amazing artist and musician. I know that my experiences with my father – for which I am so lucky – have made me the woman and artist I am today," she says with a smile.

Leah Wood was born in 1978 in Los Angeles. As a baby, she grew up in music and art, touring with the Rolling Stones with her mother, Jo Wood. At one point, when her peers were in preschool, she remembers her father taking her on stage and giving her the microphone. Little Leah sang that night in front of tens of thousands of Rolling Stones fans. Not bad for a childhood memory! This was something that boosted her self-confidence, since as a child she was quite shy.

Painting has always been present in her life, a passion she shares with her father. Ronnie Wood, in addition to being a musician, is also known for his paintings. In his visual career, he focused on portraits, landscapes and scenes from his life. Although initially a painter with a self-taught course, he managed to create a strong artistic identity, influenced by his experiences in the world of music and his travels. His works, like his music, are full of energy and emotional intensity. The art of Ronnie Wood, with its colors and forms, is inspired by the same spontaneity and expressiveness that characterize his music with the Rolling Stones.

On the other hand, although Leah loved art, she did not make the decision to devote herself to it until she was 30, when she began studying Visual Arts at the Chelsea School of Art in London. Even years after graduation, however, she found it difficult to publish her works, to be "seen" by the world. It was her husband who supported her in promoting her work. After the arrival of her second child, he told her: "Leah, you have to do it! You're good at it and we need the money!" So, she decided to try it and give her best. And that's how she began to exhibit her paintings and speak, through them, about the issues that concern her, especially as a mother: the urgent need to do something about the environmental crisis before it's irretrievably late for the next generation.

After the interview, it was time for a visit to the Acropolis Museum, where Leah Wood wore an impressive dress by Chara Lempesi, representing the "missing Caryatid". It was a symbolic idea that Ada Iliopoulou had envisioned, uniting modern art and fashion with ancient Greek culture.

The night comes quickly and we return to Nyn Esti, for a secret reception against the backdrop of the illuminated Acropolis, a surprise that Ada Iliopoulou had planned to say goodbye to Leah, who was leaving the next day for England. The atmosphere is festive and warm, people laugh and discuss while the low lighting is reflected in the red Symi dishes of Themis Z and blends harmoniously with the Christmas compositions of mistletoe, roses and anthurium. Chef Stamatis Misomike's menu includes dishes reminiscent of the Greek nature that inspired Leah, creating a sense of Greek culture mixed with her contemporary art.

When the evening closes, Leah Wood remains in the same position I saw her this morning: as the original artist with vision, consciousness and dedication to the world around her. She is much more than the daughter of a rockstar. With her art and activism, she bridges romanticism and the need for change, inviting all of us to a dialogue with art, the environment and life. Leah's world is not just an image. It's a challenge to hope, it's a way of life.