Ellen Dempsey
Inside OutMay 21 - 27, 2020
Inside Out is an intimate saying - it involves a close proximity to something. Knowing something inside and out means to thoroughly understand it - from its inner workings to its outside appearance. However, it can also mean reversing the orientation of an object, like turning a shirt inside out, or more extremely , a disemboweling or decomposing of something.
Normalcy has been turned inside out. Conveniences, familiarity, routines, and the everyday have been gutted and undone and left in its place is a new normal. We have developed a makeshift intimacy with our habitats and the dwellers inside - human, animal, and inanimate alike. We now know our homes more than ever - dormant corners are activated, dusty furniture has risen from the dead, and tables have morphed from holding plates to sustaining a 9-5.
This strange new intimacy is something I hope to convey in this collection of work. Through strange juxtapositions, balancing acts, and reorientations, the objects included in Inside Out are absurd and unnerving, intimate, and lighthearted. They are fumbling, clingy, but hopeful, they are not so different than us.
Images © 2020 Ellen Dempsey
Image List:
-Ellen Dempsey, Foot in a Cast, 2020, School desk chair, plaster cast of clawfoot table leg
-Ellen Dempsey, Pin Up, 2020, Pool noodles, placemat, brass fixtures
-Ellen Dempsey, Inside Out, 2017, Lawn Chair, pool float
-Ellen Dempsey, Surfacing, 2018, Found wooden desk and board
-Ellen Dempsey, Grafting Table, 2017, Plywood, found wood table, boat rope, plastic cast of my dog’s Nylabone
-Ellen Dempsey, A Leg Up, 2017, Cedar, wood, and formica tables, school desk chair, plastic cup
-Ellen Dempsey, Mundane Morphology, 2019, Table and chair parts, paint
-Ellen Dempsey, Hot to Trot, 2019, Table legs and paint,
-Ellen Dempsey, Step Up, 2017, Dining room tables, coffee table legs, saw horses
*Read Ellen Dempsey’s interview here
*For more info on Ellen’s work please visit her website & Instagram