Uncategorized – Emilie Louise Gossiaux

Dog Girl, They Called Me [MoMA PS1]

MoMA PS1 Greater New York Show, 2021-2022.

2 black ink pen line drawings on the wall hanging above a small ceramic sculpture. “London Stands Up on Her Hind Legs”, A drawing of my guide dog, London standing on her hind legs, as if she were walking upright effortlessly like a human. Her front paws and arms hover loosely at her sides, and slightly in front of her body. She is looking away from the viewer, towards the right edge of the page. "London, in My Dreams”, shows London with the body of a woman. She is nude, and is resting her right hand over her chest, and her left hand rests at her side. She stands up straight, her feet planted to the ground, her left foot is slightly shorter than her right foot.

A doll sized white ceramic sculpture of an anthropomorphic dog with a woman’s body. The sculpture is resting on her back (on a shelf?), her hands are closed into fists, and are resting on either side of her hips. She has the head of a dog, with a long snout, and triangular shaped ears hanging down the side of her head, but with human features, such as her almond shaped eyes and long eyelashes, which are carved into the clay in thin lines. There are two small holes that were poked into the clay to create pupils in the center of each eye. On her torso she has four small breasts with nipples, a round belly with a belly button, and thin lines carved into the clay to signify pubic hair. She has long, straight legs with little round bumps to indicate knees, and her toes point up into the air, the back of her heels resting on the shelf.

Hanging to the right of the 2 drawings is a simple line drawing, of two human animal hybrid figures. On the right side of the drawing, is a woman with a dog’s head, and on the left side is a dog’s body with a woman’s head. The two figures gaze affectionately at the other, as their bodies turn slightly inwards to face each other. The woman’s open hand reaches out to hold on to the dog figure’s paw.

Installation view of large white gallery space with a crumbling stone sculpture in the center of the room and Gossiaux's pieces hanging on an adjacent wall.

Dancing with London [MMK Frankfurt]

Crip Time, MMK Frankfurt, 2021.

A photograph of MMK Frankfurt’s lobby, taken from above. On the floor below, two grey dog figures standing on their hind legs face each other. Behind them, a Christine Sun Kim painting stretches horizontally across the upper half of the 2+ story wall.

Taken from the same vantage point as the previous photograph, this one is a closeup of the two dogs, showcasing the black details of their faces.

Now standing ground level in the lobby, the two dogs stand in the foreground of the shot while a Christine Sun Kim painting stretches horizontally across the wall behind them. From this angle, we can see that the two dogs are mirror images of each other.

A closeup of the two dogs taken from a similar point as the previous photograph. We can see the details of their faces and paws.

True Love Will Find You in the End [The Shed]

Two sculptures depicting hybrid human-animal figures stand side by side in a gallery space. They hold hands, with their heads slightly turned to gaze at one another. On the right, is a naked woman with a dog’s head; the figure on the left is an anthropomorphized dog with a long tail standing on its hind legs with the head of a woman.

Installation view with another artist's large rectangular sculptures in the foreground and Gossiaux's hybrid human-animal sculptures illuminated in the background.

Installation view from another angle with revealing the expansive gallery space with a variety of artists' work.

Memory of a Body [Mother Gallery]

Emilie L. Gossiaux | Memory of A BodyDecember 12 – February 20, 2021Curated by Emily Watlington Six blind contour drawings are included in Memory of a Body, Gossiaux creates them using ballpoint pen on newsprint which leaves indentations. Then, she fills in her contours using waxy crayons. Relying on Crayola’s evocative color names like Almond … Continue reading Memory of a Body [Mother Gallery]

Emilie L. Gossiaux | Memory of A Body
December 12 – February 20, 2021
Curated by Emily Watlington

Six blind contour drawings are included in Memory of a Body, Gossiaux creates them using ballpoint pen on newsprint which leaves indentations. Then, she fills in her contours using waxy crayons. Relying on Crayola’s evocative color names like Almond and Piggy Pink, having become blind while she was a student at Cooper Union, Gossiaux either draws from memory or observes her subjects by touch. Sometimes, she renames the colors to remember them better. The six drawings in Memory of a Body depict her guide dog London, a yellow Labrador retriever. Some are mundane (Arm, Tail, Butthole, 2019), some are fantastical (London and the Goddess, 2019), and all are ripe with Gossiaux’s signature: a silly sort of sweetness.

Visible through Mother Gallery’s window are two sculptures of London that are monumental in size. She’s standing on her hind legs with her arms outstretched, ready to rest her paws in yours and sway side to side for a dance. That’s one way London shows affection. Emilie remarked to me that the process of making those papier-mâché sculptures felt a lot like petting her pooch: rubbing a mushy, wet paper pulp onto the dog’s Styrofoam body. She made them while awaiting London’s biopsy results, and wanted to memorialize their good times together (thankfully, the news was good).

Behind the larger-than-life Londons sits a big blue wedge titled Cerulean: Big Sur, Summer 2010 (Blue Wedge). Reconstructed from the artist’s memory of visiting Big Sur, a California tidal pool, the memory-foam lined piece creates the simultaneous sensations of sinking and floating that characterize swimming in water. And, its triangle shape evokes the invisible, sloping geometry that lies beneath the ocean’s surface known as the continental shelf. Walking alongside the wedge recreates the sensation of walking deeper into the water. The work both reflects the artist’s memory of a good time, and provides a place of rest within the gallery: viewers are invited to sit on the memory-foam-topped wedge. And above the wedge hangs a large circle painted different shades of a fiery orange titled Atomic Tangerine: Looking at the Sun With Your Eyes Closed (2018).

Throughout the gallery are several life-size ceramic sculptures of body parts: a foot, an ankle. Each are inscribed with tattoos belonging either to herself, or to one of her family members. They’re filled with black expanding foam that seeps through the incisions, reminding that tattoos as a form of self-expression are kind of like your insides coming out for others to see. The series is titled “Outerspace” after the name of the sparkly black color Gossiaux chose for the foam; “Atomic Tangerine” and “Cerulean” are Crayola names, too. While these works were made from memory, Finger Through Palm—a papier-mâché sculpture of two hands—depicts a practice for inducing lucid dreaming. If you practice imagining piercing the palm of your hand with your finger while touching one to the other, some say that you’ll start to be able to control your dreams. Gossiaux is a lucid dreamer, which I was not surprised to learn, since her artwork so richly captures her vivid memories.

Installation view showing a large cerulean blue foam wedge in the foreground and a dark orange sun tapestry and a green painting on loose fabric hanging on the wall in the background.

Emilie Gossiaux. Memory of a Body. Mother Gallery. Image Description Forthcoming.

Installation view showing a large cerulean blue foam wedge in the foreground and a green painting on loose fabric hanging on the wall in the background.

Visible through Mother Gallery’s window are two sculptures of London that are monumental in size. She’s standing on her hind legs with her arms outstretched, ready to rest her paws in yours and sway side to side for a dance. That’s one way London shows affection. Emilie remarked to me that the process of making those papier-mâché sculptures felt a lot like petting her pooch: rubbing a mushy, wet paper pulp onto the dog’s Styrofoam body. She made them while awaiting London’s biopsy results, and wanted to memorialize their good times together (thankfully, the news was good.)

Installation view showing a large cerulean blue foam wedge in the foreground and a dark orange sun tapestry hanging on the wall in the background.

Installation view of a sculpture of two peach-colored hands on a white pedestal. One hand is pointing its index finger through the palm of the other hand. There are four pen and crayon drawings on the wall in the background.

A sculpture of two peach-colored hands on a white pedestal. One hand is pointing its index finger through the palm of the other hand. There are four pen and crayon drawings on the wall in the background.

E.L.G. Familial Archives (Outerspace)

Installation view, In Practice: Total Disbelief, SculptureCenter, New York, 2020. Photos by Kyle Knodell.

Installation view at the SculptureCenter. There is a long table covered in beige foam. Ontop lies various body parts made of painted ceramic. Arms, legs, torsos, chests, many of which also have tattoos carved into them in black. The walls of the room are bare white, except for two color drawings of some of the body parts on the table.

Detail view. Painted ceramic body parts from above, in detail. Some of the body parts include an arm, a breast, a chest, a shoulder, an ear. Some of the tattoos include a rose, smiley faces, a cross, a chili pepper, a swirl shape, a cat face, and the initials E.L.G.

Memory of a Body [Green Hall Gallery]

Installation view, Memory of a Body, Yale Sculpture MFA Thesis Exhibition, New Haven, 2019. Photos by Minh Bui.

Installation view of a pristine whitewall gallery space. A large cobalt blue wedge made of fabric and foam in the middle of the gallery. Sculptures of body parts are installed sparsely on the walls and placed on the floor.

Closeup of a ceramic human foot sitting on the floor. The foot is cut at the ankle revealing a black foam interior core. A white cylindrical pipe emerges from the core like a bone into the air. A smiley face is etched into ankle of the foot like a tattoo.

A closeup of a ceramic sculpture of a forearm, mounted directly on the wall with a white metal armature. The arm is cut at the wrist and the bicep, revealing a black foam interior core. The letters E.L.G. are etched into the upper arm like a tattoo.

A closeup of a freestanding purple foam shape resembling a dress from the backside. The dress is supported by a tree-stand black metal frame.

A closeup of a freestanding purple foam shape resembling a dress. The dress is supported by a tree-stand black metal frame. A large blue fabric and foam wedge is visible in the background.

Two small white papier mache figures on a pedestal, facing each other. A female figure lies on her stomach while a male figure lies on his side.

Dancing with London and Looking at the Sun with Your Eyes Closed

Installation view, Dancing with London and Looking at the Sun with Your Eyes Closed, Yale, New Haven, 2018. Photos by Kanthy Peng.

After Image

Installation view, After Image, False Flag, New York, 2018. Photos by Mark Waldhauser.

It’s Alright Florence I’m Only Dreaming

For Jack (Titanic)

Installation view, For Jack (Titanic), Yale, New Haven, 2017. Photos by Dannielle Bowman.

Dis

Installation view, Dis, Dedalus Foundation, Brooklyn, NY, 2017.

Lemon Gloves
2017
Materials: Glazed earthenware, acrylic
Dimensions: (altogether) 23.5 x 47.5 in

My Peach
2017
Materials: Glazed earthenware, acrylic
Dimensions: (altogether) 20 x 13 x 6 in

Tandem
2017
Materials: Earthenware, acrylic, epoxy resin
Dimensions: 80 x 40 x 10 in

Work 2016–2017

Boca
2016
Materials: stoneware, concrete, papier-mâché

Bust of a Watermelon
2017
Materials: Earthenware, wood, metal hardware
Dimensions: 64 x 20 x 20 in

Cantaloupes
2017
Materials: Earthenware, acrylic
Dimensions: Dimensions vary

Brooklyn
2017
Materials: Terra-cotta, paper mache, acrylic, plaster
Dimensions: 50 x 12 x 12 in

Unfixtures

2016
Partner exhibition with Nathan Abbe
Materials: plaster, wax, heat lamps

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INFJ / ENTP

Installation view, INFJ/ENTP, Cooper Union BFA Thesis Exhibition, New York, 2014. Photos by Minh Bui.
Materials: ceramic, wood, papier-mâché, plaster, steel, foam, wax.

Spaghetti Night

2014
Spaghetti is served in 110 handmade ceramic bowls with 130 laser-cut wooden forks. Performers wash the dishware in ceramic water basins and restack for reuse

Performers: Lydia Dresser, Emilie Gossiaux, Emmanuela Soria Ruiz, Alex Velozo

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Work 2012–2013

Still Life Reliefs
2013
Materials: ceramic, glaze

2 Chalices
2013
Materials: ceramic, grog

Bird Sitting
2013
Materials: ceramic, plaster, foam

Bird 1 Bird 2
2012
Materials: ceramic, wood

Work 2010

Three Graces
2010
Materials: papier-mâché, steel, epoxy resin