Biography
Artist Statement:
I create performances that act as personal and ecological rituals, focusing on the body as an ever-evolving landscape. My work explores memory, materiality, history, futurity, and the queer potential of discarded spaces, weaving together themes of impermanence, gender, and most recently explorations into ecofiction.
Through slow, repetitive actions, embracing the ephemeral, I like to imagine new ways of inhabiting a changing body and a changing world - investigating the body not as a fixed entity, but as a site of constant revival, becoming and unbecoming. In this space of subtle movement, i invite a collective reflection on the fluidity of the self and the resilience of the landscapes - both physical and social - that we inhabit.
About the Artist:
Yell Freeman (they/she) is a performance artist and researcher based in Brooklyn, New York. Yell explored visual art at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2011 with a focus on sculpture. They then continued their studies at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, Ireland, receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree in 2013, concentrating on video and performance art. Yell continues to work primarily in these mediums, crafting visual sequences and movements that delve into the processes of grief, healing, and growth.
In 2021, Yell earned a Master's in Curatorial Practice in Performance through Wesleyan University's ICPP Program, driven by a deep interest in how performance can aid in grief work. Beyond their artistic and curatorial endeavors, Yell has an active career in freelance arts and collections management for artist studios, as well as artwork installation and handling for galleries and museums throughout New York City.