Thursday March 4 * 7pm * RSVP/DONATE
Watch at youtu.be/RhZhQS4ozXQ
You were an envelope
Curated by Alicia Little
Sequence
1. Emma Levesque-Schaefer, one is too few and two is only one possibility, 2017, 9:12
2. Elyse Johnson, WatchDog I, 2020, 4:39
3. Shala Miller, Title: Lullaby For the Falling/A Spell, 2017, 2:59
4. Evie Metz, Roses Were Red, 2018, 7:29
5. Chelsea Lee, My First Kylie Jenner Lip Kit, 2017, 6:35
You were an envelope is a series of five videos that explore gender, femininity, and transformation. These themes are examined through a lens of consumer products, digital culture, and the pursuit of connection and belonging.
One is too few and two is only one possibility is a semantic self-portrait exploring the self-help industry’s obsession with various therapeutic tools through a consideration of lavender as a color, scent, and flower. Using ASMR techniques and weaving in references to Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts and Prince’s Purple Rain, one is too few and two is only one possibility illuminates the many dichotomies at play and refuses any attempt at singular definitions. Emma Levesque-Schaefer is a multidisciplinary artist working primarily in digital media. Her videos, collaborations and writings explore memory, fiction and ‘hybridity’, focusing on trans* narratives and queer community. Her work has been shown in the Columbus Museum of Art, Wexner Center for the Arts, and Evening Hours in New York City. She is a co-founder of MINT Collective and a frequent collaborator at No Place Gallery in Columbus, Ohio.
WatchDog is a satirical Covidian anthology documenting the liminal collapse of events, narratives, and timelines in an increasingly post-truth era. Located somewhere in the fifth dimension, the series follows the story of a nanobot-infested werewolf living in perpetual quarantine while guarding a portal controlled by a collection of Time Magazines. In this fraught but flexible state, the werewolf is ruthlessly hunted by an artificially intelligent villain known only as "Jeff Bezos' Dog". Famed for the act of shapeshifting, the protagonist is confronted by their own increasing crudeness in the face of new technologies as we revisit our own traditional notions of time with the understanding that they are more precarious than ever. In a world somewhere between raw file and advertisement, WatchDog considers mutation, transcendence, and the difficult task of deciphering between the two. Elyse Johnson is a performance and video artist investigating power, spectacle, and temporalities. Her practice centers characters who are burdened by our increasingly precarious relationship to technology and questions the consequences of rapid advancement to life on earth, both real and imagined. She received her MFA from Parsons School of Design in 2019 and is currently based in Chicago, IL.
Lullaby for the Falling/A Spell is part three of a multipart video essay series about the epigenetics of trauma. Shala Miller, also known as Freddie June when she sings, was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio by two southerners named Al and Ruby. At around the age of 10 or 11, Miller discovered quietude, the kind you’re sort of pushed into, and then was fooled into thinking that this is where they should stay put. Since then, Miller has been trying to find their way out, and find their way into an understanding of herself and her history, using photography, video, writing, acting and singing as an aid in this process. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where they studied photography, film, video and writing. She received a fellowship to attend the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. She was a participant in the New York Film Festival’s Artist Academy and has studied under filmmaker, Lucrecia Martel in Barcelona, Spain as part of La Selva’s film workshop, Sounds of Summer.
Roses Were Red is an imaginative fairy tale for adults that tells a tale of the struggle to maintain one's personal sense of self. Evie Metz works in both stop-motion filmmaking and photography. The essence of her work pushes the boundaries of spiritual strength and the limited nature of our humanness with the intention for us to transcend it. With intention to transgress boundaries of interiority, she explores themes involving instinct, desire, and morality. Evie holds an MFA in Photography + Film at Virginia Commonwealth University and a BFA in Photography from Maryland Institute College of Art.
My First Kylie Jenner Lip Kit starts off in the usual way of a YouTube makeup tutorial, but quickly devolves into something else. No Lip Kits were harmed in the making of this video. This lip kit is a hand made representation using cardboard, marker, and porcelain clay. Chelsea Lee is an artist currently living in Richmond, Virginia. She is a recent graduate of the Craft/Material Studies department at Virginia Commonwealth University where she received a graduate assistant-ship for three semesters. She was born in Bismarck, North Dakota, where she grew up in an artist’s home. Lee graduated with a BFA from Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) in 2010. Lee’s work has been exhibited in the InLight exhibition with 1708 Gallery exhibition in Richmond, Virginia, the Ann Arbor Art Center, the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. She currently teaches art foundations classes at Virginia Commonwealth University and courses at John Tyler Community College.