aegis(us): a moving image refuge for feminine endurance and holistic body reclamation

While her present artistic practice grew roots in classical cello and midnight poetry, Em Elise has always been fascinated by the body and its languages. She sees patterns of birth and death as ever present: from ephemeral relationships between lovers to the synchronicity between menstruation and la luna. In an age of shallow social media presentation and the dissociative “new normal” induced by a global pandemic, Elise has become obsessed with a search for depth which she often finds in grainy film, candid renderings, and recollection of guttural feelings. Featuring moving image projection, performance, immersive sound, and remnants of ritual, aegis(us) intertwines somatic experience, emotional perception, and spectral influence to mesmerize and purify.

aegis(us), Em Elise’s undergraduate thesis and debut solo exhibition, serves as a psycho-spiritual testament to feminine endurance and holistic body reclamation. Aegis, /ˈējəs/, being an emblem of protection, and us, a community bound by collective belonging. How does the body act as a conduit? When might the mundane become mystic? What happens when we slow down and surrender to the intuitive rhythms of the (super)natural world? Fueled by Elise’s tender affinity for sacred corporeal movement, nostalgic image making processes, and the liberation of rebirth, aegis(us) invites viewers to bathe in contemplation of the relationship between physical and energetic phenomena.

Artist Biography:

Em Elise approaches art making as alchemical therapy: a vessel for self embalming, transmuting grief, and holistic body reclamation. Driven by the heart pangs, moments of remembrance, and spiritual visitations she frequently encounters in transit, on the cusp of sleep, sky gazing, or when peering into the soul of another, Elise’s artwork provides an anchor for those that feel as alien in this world as she often does. Elise creates to embrace emotional excavation, reintegrate traumatic experience, and root in tender vulnerability. Whether immortalizing feelings of intimacy on instant film, divulging ancestral and gender-based wounds using analog video, or purging pain during ritual performance, Em Elise’s work fuels collective healing and vital authenticity in the face of oppressive social conditioning. Em Elise is native to and currently based out of Indianapolis, Indiana but frequently practices in Copenhagen, Denmark.

contact + connect: emelise.creating@gmail.com / @sin__atras / https://emelisecreating.tumblr.com/

Located in the Guichelaar Gallery, this exhibit is part of a series of Herron School of Art and Design’s Senior Thesis exhibits curated by Jane Sun Kim, a visual artist in our long term residency program, APLR.

The Guichelaar Gallery and Residency House located next door to Tube Factory at 1135 Cruft St. is a contemporary art space operated by Big Car Collaborative APLR artists. It also serves as a home for visiting artists.