An Optimistic, Nostalgic Tree by Lily Selthofner. watercolor on canvas, 5″x7″
The piece reveals dualities: of evergreens and deciduous reds — youthful in death, floating away, or falling, awaiting rebirth. From near and far, the trees see and know each other.
A Portrait of Three Cats: Milo, Gold Dust, and Dewey by Lily Selthofner. Watercolor on paper, 16″x12″
This is a portrait of three cats that I know: Milo, Gold Dust, and Dewey (from left to right). The inquisitive and optimistic Milo, the energetic and feminine Gold Dust, and the wild, yet deeply caring Dewey.
Upward Spiral is an experimental Screendance documentary that navigates the subjective embodiment of selves, objects, and spaces, forging paths between aloneness and togetherness.
I created Upward Spiral to explore the subjectivities of embodiment that hover in the gaps between ourselves and the living world: public and private selves, the butterfly effects of pasts, presents, and futures, inner children and adults, responses to life’s traumas and joys, complex growth and simple being.
First, I worked with cast members one-on-one to create single-shot films that explored how sacred objects, spaces, and routines are embodied within their internal lives. Woven together, these individual experiences portray collective rituals and moods of identity and grounding – as represented by the ‘object-altar’ – where meaning meets material in the body.
I also collected 43 drawings, where I asked people to draw their response to the question: “How do you feel in your body right now?” During the rehearsal process, my cast and I explored how movement can influence, represent, and be inspired by ‘body drawing’ as a shared mode of articulation. We also played games and journaled to explore where the self changes between in connection, isolation, safety, and freedom – these processes culminated in a series of audio interviews in the film.
Altogether, the interconnection of many intense subjective experiences guides the audience through a fundamentally human Upward Spiral toward a more articulately embodied togetherness in this experimental film.
December 2022
Screenings:
CoLab Performing Arts Collective Fall 2022 Showcase
Pop-up: Screendance Showing
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