Elise Vazelakis

Artists have never remained silent on issues that shape our lives. We raise our voices—individually and collectively—in outrage, hoping to inspire healing and progress. In my Senseless series, I directly confront the devastating ubiquity of gun violence.

My life was forever changed when 22-year-old Christiana Duarte, the daughter of a close friend, was gunned down in the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting. Her death created a profound rupture in my world, making gun violence no longer an abstract issue but a deeply personal reality. The loss of Christiana shattered lives, and I could no longer remain a passive witness to the destruction it leaves in its wake.

Senseless is a direct response to the insanity of gun violence. Drawing from the weaving traditions that incorporate symbolism and storytelling, this series integrates AR-15 bullet shell casings, collected from a shooting range, alongside copper wires that protrude and twist from a woven backdrop. The materials themselves form a visceral narrative—much like the Navajo wove their histories into textiles, I embed these elements as both testimony and protest. The shell casings stand as stark reminders of the accessibility and prevalence of firearms, while the copper wires twist and loop, leaving circular imprints that echo their source material. These gestures of reconfiguration suggest both the weight of loss and a reaching toward resolution.

Through Senseless, I transform instruments of violence into a call for awareness, action, and remembrance.

My wire sculptures start with the same loom weaving technique I use in my woven large-scale, wall-bound pieces. They combine the matrix base inherent in weaving, but profoundly diverge from the grid pattern once taken off the loom. I bend, twist and fold the woven pieces into freestanding forms that feel more organic. They are displayed alone or in clusters, hung from the ceiling or positioned on pedestals, which, unlike the wall-bound works, invite circumnavigation. These works have a more pronounced interplay with light and shadow, and their contorted shapes invite viewers to look through and beyond each form. 

Photo Credit: @kimberlyadamis

My earliest inroads to creativity started with fiber, beginning with my grandmother’s treadle sewing machine. With my current work, I have gone back to my roots. I use a foot-operated weaving loom, and the traditional aspects of its application connect me to my history. I create large woven pieces that resemble a tapestry or quilt, which speak to the age-old practice of storytelling. Through my chosen method and materials, I update weaving conventions into a contemporary modality that engages my own narrative.   

Although my process of loom weaving essentially follows a long-tended tradition, through an integration of metal wire and painted elements my techniques push the customary limits of weaving. By manipulating the loosely woven wiring, I construct undulating gestures and punctuated patterning, resulting in dynamic forms that subvert the static templates of weaving. In this way, the work strikes a balance between textile and sculpture that explores a juxtaposition of comfort and complexity, fortitude and fragility.

Photo Credit: @kimberlyadamis

The pieces in this series are my most personal to date, telling the story of my mother, whom I lost to cancer when I was six. An artist and poet, she was never able to complete her story, leaving our own story as a distant memory and a tale of longing.

It wasn’t until adulthood, after raising my own children, that I could finally read my mother’s poems—many written as she was dying. While difficult, they brought closure, offering a glimpse into the woman I never truly knew as a child.

I have woven my mother’s photographs and poetry into my work, a deeply personal act of completing her unfinished story. This process has allowed me to reconcile her once-elusive identity—one undeniably intertwined with my own. Through this series, I have found peace, compassion, and understanding, allowing our conjoined story to live on.