Interview with éli del

éli del (Ariane Gagné) aims to dive into crude, visceral and enlightening experiences to come back and share what they have found in the abyss. Their practice makes use of calligraphy, diagrams, drawings, songs and tattoos, tools which allow them to connect to their epigenetic legacy of trauma, poverty, mental health and addiction problems, while invoking an inspiring heritage of witchcraft, visions and spirituality. This process leads to pictorial objects that form an erratic cartography inspired by Chaos Magick, psycho-pop literature and ecofeminist practices. Like molts that result from moments of healing, evolution or involution, their works integrate poetic messages – a sibylline prose that is blurred by sharp and sinuous scribbles and abstruse symbols. This textual aspect of their work is made to be sung, deciphered, or left to interpretation, taking the form of motivational phrases and enigmatic advice that serve as an invitation to regeneration, fluidity and ruin. Graduate of UQAM’s Visual and Media Arts program (2019), they live between europe and Tio’Tia:Ke (Montreal), where their work has been shown in exhibitions, festivals and various public and private spaces such as Projet Casa, Art souterrain and Espace Maurice. They also exhibited pieces in Alcamo (IT), Québec city (CA), Berlin (DE), Brussels (BE) , Youngstown (OH) and Hudson (NY). Find more of their work here: https://www.instagram.com/eli13del/ * Originally aired live on CKUT on Wednesday, Febraury 7th, 2024 * Photo by Cléo Sjölander