Emily Eifler

Foster City, California

www.emilyeifler.squarespace.com

"My work is derived from the language of my body, a chaotic body, and much of my work is an effort to exert control, however imaginary, over that chaos."

Emily Eifler's whimsical sculptures are reminiscent of costuming, exploring boundaries in objects that are derived from the body. The resulting forms elicit an initial playful response. Upon closer investigation, however, they reveal a deeply personal experience with disability. Eifler, who has a progressive neurological disorder resulting in limited mobility, uses the work to examine biological forms in an effort to exert control: "Disability narratives magnify the things underlying all our lives: mortality, fragility, body image, dependency, and reciprocity."

Swell/Say is an investigation into a fantasy tumor with clearly defined edges, where a healthy body ends and illness begins. The object serves as a model to animate a cathartic fantasy of control for the artist, who faces no specific diagnosis or cure. She uses soft, easily manipulated forms that conjure childlike, Seussian daydreams.

Skin explores "otherness" by serving as a visual boundary that recalls a different, invisible boundary: disability. The piece physically, mentally, and emotionally separates the viewer from the wearer. The object, in itself, cannot impose this separation—is just an object—the effect the object has in the mind creates the gap: "Many people who have a disability have the experience of this kind of separation," the artist says.

Eifler's interdisciplinary experience includes a BA in fine art, theater, film, and television from the University of Colorado at Denver, as well as theatrical production.

© 2007 Emily Eifler