Artist-in-Residence: Emily Tanner-McLean

February – August 2020

Emily is a multimedia artist whose work explores the transformative potential of liminal, discordant spaces. Her practice encompasses video art and immersive installations that examine media’s generative capacity to promote new, conscious-building ways of thinking, particularly within moments of apparent paradox. Emily received a Bachelor’s degree in Studio Art and a Master’s in Public Administration from New York University.

For Those Who Have Seen the Elephant, a 16’ x 20’ x 11’ multimedia installation (6:20 minutes, looped). To have “seen the elephant” is an American idiom coined in the 19th century as a sardonic reference to the cost of patriotic ambition, the American dream, or the point at which beliefs and perception conflict with reality. For Those Who Have Seen the Elephant re-presents this idiom to contemplate the connection between myth and truth and the cost/benefit of the American experience. This piece continues her interest in the gray areas between opposing ideas or conditions, creating work that challenges binaries and evokes conflicting emotions. 

For Those Who Have Seen the Elephant will be on view July through August 29. Click here to learn more about the installation and different ways to experience it. www.tannermclean.com/latest