Vickie Aravindhan (Los Angeles, CA) | November 2021

The third and final iteration of the Yali mask series is situated in the attic. This Yali is the softest in build and material, and was made is response to Justin Rabidu's, Air Mail and his legacy as an artist and citizen of the world. His contribution to Elsewhere exists here in the attic where it is arguably the quietest, most contemplative site of the museum. Here, the Yali will serve as a guardian to Justin's memory as well as all future peoples who reside in the attic and after as they return/journey on.

Operation Ribbon Room (working title) serves as an act of restoration as well as transformation for a space hosting a variety of previous works in addition to Sylvia’s own interactions with the materials in the expanse. The curative effort put into this room is meant to reinvigorate the works living there as well as to better allow visitors to engage with the space as a whole. The ribbon pile suspends from the ceiling making space for furniture for some of the puppets to live on. Visitors to the space are invited to continue the transformation by tying additional ribbons to the hanging mass or untying them and rolling them up to place in the other piece. Ribbons tied up could represent hopes, dreams, wishes or goals. Ribbons rolled up serve as a physical representation of hardship left behind, allowing individuals to move forward. Overall the room is reimagined so that there are more ways to interact with the works and the building. An exploration of restoration and care for a space that has been touched by the hands of many generations, only to continue going forward.

Lexy Ho-Tai (Queens, NYC) | November 2021

"Hope is a discipline" - Mariame KabaFeeding off the childlike wonder that Elsewhere inspires, Lexy Ho-Tai created an immersive, interactive puppet piece that serves as a playful entry point to larger conversations about safety, abolition, community care, mutual aid and world building. Weaving different messages of resistance and solidarity, Lexy invites you to imagine a more collaborative future and to consider your role within it. Using the fabric + markers provided, viewers are encouraged to leave their own messages of resistance into the piece. Culture is something we collectively create, and another world is possible! Consider donating to or getting involved with Greensboro Mutual Aid (linktr.ee/GSOMutualAid, Instagram: @gso_mutual_aid, CashApp $GSOMutualAid PayPal: GSOMutualAid@gmail.com) or your local mutual aid group.

Jasmine Best (Greensboro, NC) | October 2021

Curation Doll draws power to protect so that we do not have to be strong. The doll figure has skin made of images of flowers arranged from Elsewhere’s own fabric collection. The era of these fabrics informs the aesthetic and associations of the florals. The actual flowers collected from the collection drape the doll and, it’s resting chair, and the frames on the wall creating a protective covering. The artist’s own family would make fabric dolls and place them on chairs both as showcases of skills previously only appreciated in a domestic context but what felt to be as protectors of a domestic space. The Doll figure sits relaxed and reserved in front of an abstracted family photo wall. Pulling more power from the idea of personal black curation in reference to an essay by Bell Hooks about how home photo walls were some of the only places Black people were able to control their own image in a gallery like space.

Charis Fleshner (Loveland, CO) | June 2021

Personification and anthropomorphism of inanimate objects has always been apart of how I physically and emotionally navigate the world and connect to objects. There is actually a branch of metaphysics called object-oriented ontology that studies this. During my time sewing at Elsewhere, I became irreversibly attached to a vintage, collection Pfaff sewing machine, even naming it "Jaime". This work is simply my love note to Jaime, me amore! The fabric hearts used in the installation are hidden somewhere in Elsewhere.