Emilie L. Gossiaux: Nature from Bed

Having lost her vision in 2010, Gossiaux’s experience of nature doesn’t always take place outdoors. In fact, she often accesses the outdoors from her bed. For example, as a Winter Workspace artist-in-residence at Wave Hill in 2021, Gossiaux encountered the gardens primarily through detailed verbal descriptions provided by one of the curators. Whether listening to audio recordings, dreaming of plant-human hybrid bodies, or cuddling with London—her guide dog and close companion—under her floral bedspread, Gossiaux does not need to be outside to feel at one with nature. Her work illustrates that physical and imaginary walls cannot delineate nature and wildlife from our day-to-day existence. In this way, Gossiaux’s drawings are guided by tactile sensation, taking on a highly intimate quality both in subject matter and form. The artist uses ballpoint pen and crayon to feel her lines as she works. Using playful marks and bright colors, images of hummingbirds licking the inside of human ears create a visceral sensory experience for the viewer that brings us closer to both our natural surroundings and the artist’s experience of the world. In doing so, Gossiaux invites viewers to move beyond human-centrism and imagine modes of life in which people and non-human species share an interdependence. As a result, new forms of kinship and ways of relating to each other emerge as central to Gossiaux’s work.

Emilie L. Gossiaux: Nature from Bed is organized by Afriti Bankwalla, Curatorial Administrative Assistant, with Gabriel de Guzman, Director of Arts and Chief Curator, and Rachel Gugelberger, Curator of Visual Arts.

Meet the Artist: Emilie L. Gossiaux (virtual)
Tue, Oct 8, 2024, 6:30 – 8:00PM
Location: Zoom

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