As Empty As Mirrors (Video installation/performance, 2023)

Inspired by Julia Kristeva’s writings on abjection, As Empty as Mirrors describes a single event as it hovers between the real and the illusory. A subject rinses and combs her hair with her hands in a dark room, visible only through the windows with the beam of a flashlight. The accompanying video shows the same sequence from a warped alternate perspective, a hallucinatory event superimposed on the real.

“They may well try to find each other; they will never find anything but parodic images, and they will fall asleep as empty as mirrors.” — Georges Bataille, The Solar Anus

Photos courtesy of the artist and Studio Gerda

Fortress/Moat (Video, 2022)

A self-portrait focusing on the strange vulnerability that comes with having a nurturing relationship with oneself. Extreme independence functions simultaneously as a protective barrier and an impassible wall.

Extinction (Video, 2022)

Extinction theorizes that nature must be cherished as a higher power to circumnavigate human demise as a result of climate change. It is a slightly tongue-in-cheek image of a world in which mankind is de-centralized and natural surroundings are elevated to a position of religious reverence.

Limbo Unlimited (Musical album, 2022)

Debut album from solo musical project, Sweet Sophie Oblivion. Written, recorded, and produced by Sophie Shely. “Jesus Truck” features Blaise Eldred (drums) and Alec Rosenberg (engineer, drum session). Mastered by Alexander Wright.

You Are (Video, 2020)

A 17-minute audio/visual piece about love, loss, and personal transformation. Digital manipulation of archival footage created by the artist’s family evokes the degradation and warping of a cherished memory. Written as a quadrophonic piece, You Are can be heard here in stereo.

Birds (Sound, 2020)

Birds utilizes a chorus of fully synthesized bird calls to examine the efficacy of digital tools in emulating the natural. Modeled after native birdcalls of Boston heard during the Covid-19 lockdown, the initially realistic sounds degrade into noise throughout the piece.

Hum (Sound installation, 2022)

Hum transforms an electrical generator into an interactive instrument in an effort to transform its perpetual obnoxious hum into a thing of beauty.