A line drawing of Emilie (the artist) sleeping under a white duvet with blue flowers printed on it. London, Emilie's Yellow Lab guide dog, is curled up next to her head, also asleep.

Emilie L. Gossiaux: Nature from Bed

When

August 31 – January 5, 2025 All Day

Where

Wave Hill House

Price

Free

with admission to the grounds

Emilie L. Gossiaux, “Emilie and London in Bed”, 2024. On view in “Nature from Bed” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen.

Emilie L. Gossiaux, “Emilie and London in Bed”, 2024, ballpoint pen and crayon on paper. Courtesy of the artist.

Emilie L. Gossiaux, “Love Bunny”, 2024. On view in “Nature from Bed” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen.

Left to right: Emilie L. Gossiaux, “Bridge Over Stream” and “Lily Pads in Water”, 2024. On view in “Nature from Bed” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen.

Emilie L. Gossiaux, “Bridge Over Stream”, 2024, ballpoint pen and crayon on paper. Courtesy of the artist.

Left to right: Emilie L. Gossiaux, “Hummingbird Tongue”, “Dream of Peace Lily” and “London Sniffs Cherry Blossoms”, 2024. On view in “Nature from Bed” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen.

Left to right: Emilie L. Gossiaux, ““Racoons with Moth” and Bowl”, “Racoons with Moth” and “Racoon with Nest and Egg”, 2024. On view in “Nature from Bed” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen.

Left to right: Emilie L. Gossiaux, “Willa”, “Kirby in Bed with Hedgehog and Chick Fighting Over Worm” and “Momo, Yoko, and Willa III”, 2024. On view in “Nature from Bed” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen.

Left to right: Emilie L. Gossiaux, “Alligator Girl on Bed II” and “Settle Down My Desire Settle Down”, 2024. On view in “Nature from Bed” at Wave Hill, 2024. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Stefan Hagen.

Emilie L. Gossiaux, “Settle Down My Desire Settle Down”, 2024, ballpoint pen and crayon on paper. Courtesy of the artist.

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

Wave Hill House is wheelchair-accessible. There is an accessible, ground-level entrance at the front of the building with a power-assist door. The restroom on the ground level is all-gender and ADA-compliant. Additional ADA-compliant restrooms are available on the lower level, which can be accessed by elevator. Wave Hill House is a five-minute walk (1207 feet) from the main entrance and parking lot. The path to Wave Hill House is not ADA compliant and has a slope over 9%. Wave Hill operates Mobility Assistance Vehicles, staffed by a Wave Hill driver, to help those with mobility issues get from one location on the grounds to another. They are available on request at the Front Entrance, on a first-come, first -served basis. Manual wheelchairs are also available on request at the Perkins Visitor Center, free of charge, on a first-come, first-served basis.

Emilie L. Gossiaux

Emilie L. Gossiaux

Emilie L. Gossiaux is a multidisciplinary artist based in New York City. She has had solo shows at the Queens Museum, NY; Mother Gallery Tribeca, New York, NY; Mother Gallery, Beacon, NY; and False Flag Gallery, New York, NY. Gossiaux’s work has been included in group exhibitions at such venues as 125 Newbury Gallery, New York, NY; MoCa Cleveland, OH; The John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI; the Wellcome Collection, London, UK; 1969 Gallery, New York, NY; The Aldrich Contemporary, Ridgefield, CT; MoMA PS 1, Long Island City, NY; Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt, Germany; The Krannert Art Museum, Champagne, IL; The Shed, New York, NY; and SculptureCenter, Long Island City, NY. She has been awarded the Ida Applebroog Grant, a John F. Kennedy Center’s VSA Prize, the Wynn Newhouse Award, a NYFA Barbara and Carl Zydney Grant, the Colene Brown Art Prize, the Queens Museum – Jerome Foundation Fellowship Program for Emerging Artists, and The Pébéo Production Prize. Gossiaux earned a BFA from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 2014, and an MFA from Yale School of Art in 2019.
Learn more at https://www.emiliegossiaux.com/
Photo: Lila Barth