Orem artist Elise Wehle displays her 2023 work “Embla.” Image courtesy of the artist.
Elise Wehle mentions two big accomplishments in 2024: For the first time in her career, a museum purchased her work; she also potty-trained her youngest child.
“Although I’ve been creating art professionally for twelve years, this year was the first time a museum acquired my art…not just one museum, but two,” the Orem, Utah artist says. It was especially gratifying because after some health complications, Wehle says she overhauled her creative process and is gratified to see the new work resonated with others.
Raised in California, Elise Wehle moved to Utah to study art at Brigham Young University where she graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts. It wasn’t until she visited Granada’s Alhambra, however, that she understood what kind of art she wanted to make. In Spain, the intricacy of the palace’s hand-carved patterns captivated the artist and she began incorporating dense repeating patterns in her own works on paper.
Today she pulls inspiration from a variety of sources, including cathedrals, illuminated manuscripts, and patterns of all shapes and sizes, to manipulate portraits and landscapes into new creations. For years, she hand-cut these patterns into landscapes and portraits. The cut-out pattern interferes with the representational imagery, obstructing the seen with the unseen. Despite the patterns’ clearly defined edges, they are comprised of negative space and are ultimately invisible, mirroring the nature of the experiences they symbolize. Then, three years ago she said she had to make a “gut-wrenching decision.”
“I decided to give up papercutting, the art form I had dedicated over ten years of my life,” she says. “Years of being hunched over making tiny cuts with my xacto knife began causing me agonizing, chronic pain. But what comes next? I am an artist, and artists must make art. So, what do you do when you can’t create what you’ve always made and loved? That question gave me nights of insomnia as anxiety overtook me.”
“The Branch Will Not Cease,” 2024, pressed plants, acrylic paint, paper, 24 x 36 in.
Family and friends suggested laser cutting, which would yield the same results. “But I’m a process-girl,” she says. “I love working with my hands, doing something others would consider tedious. Working all day on the computer preparing files to be laser cut was not the answer. After weeks of terrible confusion, I was in the shower when I suddenly thought about a dried fern leaf we had displayed in a glass frame in our living room. Already incorporating the shapes of leaves and flowers in my papercuts, I had the thought, ‘What if I just made my art with plants?’ It seemed a little crazy, but something about it felt right. Trying to figure out how I could make archival art out of the greenery in my backyard, I did months of research. And then I did the scariest thing of all. I started something new. It took a lot of time, mistakes, and patience, but I figured out how to make these leaves and flowers convey meaning, the story I want to share as an artist.”
This latest shift in her career coincides with a shift in her family life. “I’m a mother of three children, and figuring out the balance between a career that nourishes my soul and the love and duty I have to my kids has produced more tears and self-doubt than I thought was possible. Other than 3-month maternity leaves, I have never stopped making art, but with that came lots of questions—how much time in the studio is too much, how do I stop thinking about art when I’m with my kids and stop worrying about my kids when I’m making art? Something this last year clicked—maybe because we’re out of the baby stage and I’m finally getting enough sleep—but I no longer feel that deep questioning. I think—at least until something dramatic and life-altering happens—I have it figured out, and I’m at peace with it all. The balance finally feels right, and I’m confident in it. Hopefully, I didn’t just jinx myself.”
Some other “Best Of” for Wehle in 2024:
What artist, musician, book, movie, etc have you discovered this year that makes you glad to be alive?
“My Mother Lit a Fire Before Me,” 2024, pressed plants, acrylic paint, paper, 20 x 40 in.
“Lots of reading this year. Cloud Cuckoo Land was the best piece of fiction to heal my anxiety-ridden soul. Nightbitch was the most seen I’ve ever felt in a book (it’s about an artist mom), although I don’t think I’m turning into a dog. Lisa Marchiano’s Motherhood: Facing and Finding Yourself has taught me more about myself and who I have become as a mother more than any existing book, song, or even artwork. I’ve cried and rejoiced as I’ve read it.
I discovered the artwork of Xanthe Burdett a few months ago. She perfectly captures that balance between physicality and spirituality that I’m always seeking in my own art. Also, Jenny Morgan’s new exhibit No Endings for the Wild at Anat Ebgi just completely blew me away. It spoke to something deep inside me I don’t have words for.
Is it okay that I love that choir rendition of “Like a Prayer” from Deadpool and Wolverine? Been listening to it on repeat for WEEKS now.”
What was the best or among the best/most interesting exhibitions this year a) locally b) outside Utah
“UMOCA has a show up about memory, and WOW, it was so well done! Despite having many different pieces in many unique mediums, they all fit the theme perfectly. The show was profoundly relatable and moving. It’s an exhibit that will stay with me for many years ahead. If I was to introduce someone to contemporary art, I would start with this exhibit.
My husband and I had a chance to travel to Tokyo where I dedicated a full day to gallery hopping. Moe Kimura‘s solo show at Loko Gallery was transcendent. Beautiful airy artworks that connect us to our physical world while feeling completely ephemeral.”
Wehle’s artwork has been exhibited across Europe and the United States. Notably, the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design showed her work, and the Guardian and the Observer have featured her pieces in print and online. See more of her work at https://elisewehle.com.
Categories: Artist Profiles | Best Of | Visual Arts
