STATEMENT
“I’ve got your memory
Or has it got me?
I really don’t know, but I know
It won’t let me be”
-Patsy Cline, (She’s Got You)
I am a Paranormal Investigator, and I want to know what our memories are made of, where they live, and how they can be reached. Do sentimental objects simply remind us of moments past, or do they lock past events within their material, allowing us to read them like a vinyl record? I employ conspiracy and pseudoscientific technologies to create performance and sculpture that explore the haunting and mercurial qualities of memory. My performances become part paranormal conjuring, part comedic magic show, and part re-enactment, with a deep emphasis on activated objects and material alchemy. I use confirmation bias, and the suspension of disbelief as productive strategies to explore the workings of consciousness, nostalgia, and the malleability of memory.
I first became interested in ghosts in 2016, following my aunt’s unexpected death. Her passing ignited a desire to make sense of dying, to somehow communicate with her. Most paranormal investigators choose to repurpose glitchy, pre-existing technologies like radios, flashlights, or EMF readers, because the most effective tools for tracking down ghosts are ones fallible enough to detect something. I was especially fascinated by a tool ghost hunters call a “trigger object”: a sentimental object belonging to the deceased, retrofitted with sensors and cameras to lure a ghost through the bait of memory. It appeared to me to be a profoundly sculptural set of parameters. Suddenly, through this lens, a nostalgic object becomes a scientific tool. I became fascinated and amused by this reframing of sentimentality into a phenomenological inquiry. I appropriate this idea as a sculptural prompt, reworking found objects like TV dishes and car parts, using their representational and nostalgic qualities as part of their explicit function.
My earliest engagement with the arts began in theater. The monumental high-wire act of creating live performance, and the slow accumulation of labor over many months for the purpose of creating a brief and highly charged live moment, fascinated me. Making props, costumes, and sets deeply influenced my approach to sculpture. It instilled an interest in the implied narratives of objects and the worlds they might suggest beyond their immediate material boundaries. I am deeply interested in how a fine art contextualization of performance reshapes the relationship between performer and viewer, and how it might function as a sculptural condition rather than a theatrical one. My recent projects focus on subverting viewer expectations: Are elements in a performance live or staged? Are material choices in a sculpture for a functional or implied purpose? Is seeing really believing?
BIO
Elise Wunderlich (b. Portland, OR, 1993) is a multimedia artist working primarily in sculpture, video, and performance. She received her BFA in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2016 and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She has performed at Foreign and Domestic Gallery, The Center For Performance Research, PAGEANT, and Wayfarers (Brooklyn, NY). She has exhibited with TW Gallery and Nitemind (New York) at Mana Contemporary (New Jersey), and the RISD Museum (Providence, RI). Elise was a member of Brooklyn Wayfarers from 2017-2020
CV
b. 1993 Portland Oregon
Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York
EDUCATION
2016 BFA, Rhode Island School of Design, Sculpture
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
AM/FM: A Live Conjuring, Solo Performance, Wayfarers, Brooklyn, NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCES
2025
That’s All Folks!, Curated by Sienna Berritto and Henry Swanson, TW Gallery, Palm Beach FL
2024
Anniversary Again, Curated by peter bd, Foreign and Domestic, New York, NY
Changeover, Directed by peter bd, PAGEANT, Brooklyn, NY
Changeover, Directed by peter bd, Center For Performance Research, Brooklyn, NY
Thin Veil, Curated by Odetta Hartman, Ki Smith Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2020
What We Create May Save Us, Curated by Cynthia Reynolds, Ejecta Projects, Carlisle, PA
2019
Solar Flashback, Curated by Nitemind and Lauren Klenow, Nitemind Sync, New York, NY
2018
Annual Member Show, Curated by Tom McGlynn, Brooklyn Wayfarers, Brooklyn, NY
Boundlses Karaoke&, Brooklyn Wayfarers, Brooklyn, NY
2017
How To Draw A Tyrant, Curated by Jasmine Dreame Wagner, Brooklyn Wayfarers, Brooklyn, NY
TRACES, Group Show, Curated by Omari Douglin, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ
2016
Senior Invitational, Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI
Everything Must Go, The Wurks Gallery, Providence, RI
Better Again, Curated by Julia Wright, The RISD Museum, Gelman Gallery, Providence RI
Sculpture and Photo Senior Exhibition, Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence RI
Snapshots, Skaters, Moonshine, and God, Metcalf 320 Gallery, Providence, RI
2015
True Believers, Curated by Charles O’Leary and Katey Acquaro, Expose Gallery, Providence, RI
Adult Playset, Curated by Charles O’Leary and Katey Acquaro, Expose Gallery, Providence, RI
PLAY, Performance, The RISD Museum, Farago Gallery, Providence, RI
2014
How Does Distance Look?, Benson Hall Gallery, Providence RI
COLLABORATIONS AND CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2021
Secret Friend Summer Sessions Vol. 2, H0L0, Brooklyn, NY, June 26th
2019
Secret Friend 008, Magick City, Brooklyn, NY, August 16th
2018
Secret Friend 002, H0L0, Queens, NY, March, 2nd
2017
Secret Friend 001, Brooklyn Bazaar Cellar Lounge, Brooklyn, NY, December 9th
RESIDENCIES
2018
Brooklyn Wayfarers, 2017-2020
2017
Mana Contemporary BSMT, Summer 2017