Arielle Bivas

As a videographer and photographer interested in synaethesia and visceral response to visual stimuli, my work is about a foreign and simultaneously familiar world that I devise by arranging and abstracting decorative materials to explore intimacy, trauma, and the body as a vector for memory. Often I incorporate sculptural elements, such as simple theatrical devices like curtains, mirrors and scrims, in the viewing of photographs and videos to create the sense of entering an interior universe.

My short videos recount embodied memories, which are narrated in fragmented pieces that reach toward a synthesis. Intertwining voices contrast in gender, age, and authenticity of storytelling. I am interested in how traumatic events, when retold, become almost mundane. The vocal track is paired with abstract, colorful imagery that accentuates the sense of disorientation and haptics expressed by the speakers. Using imagery that suggests interiority and intimacy, the videos create the feeling of being engulfed in another’s physical experience while simultaneously pointing to the imperfect translations of visceral sensations.