EXHIBITIONMio Elory
A solo art exhibition featuring fiction writing, installation, mixed media paintings, and music.
SOLO MIXED MEDIA ART EXHIBITION
MEDIUMS: Mixed Media Paintings on Wood, Collage on Paper, Electronic Music Production, Fiction Story, InstallationMy solo art exhibition titled “Mio Elory” consisted of 13 mixed media paintings (collage, acrylic, oil pastels, found objects), 40 9×12 collages contained in a painted spiral-bound book, and a short story entitled “The Obituary of Mio Elory” bound in a saddle-stitched booklet. I produced an 8-track electronic soundtrack that played during the opening night. I constructed an installation out of a giant orb lamp, a red light bulb, rope, and a painted trunk. I also printed the entire short story on a large poster to display.
The conceptual premise centered on a fictional character, Mio Elory, and his story from birth to death as he struggles to be loved, told through the short story. The paintings, or “Games,” were “found” after Mio’s death and displayed by me to honor his life. In the story, Mio splits from reality due to psychosis and starts to create unintelligible games without rules, a callback to a traumatic event that defined his short life.
I wanted to bring my idea to life by creating a fictional story and character that jump off the page and onto the walls. I wanted to use all three of my favorite artistic mediums—creative writing, visual arts, and music production—to tell a multi-sensory story of love, loss, and mental illness.
The show opened on Saturday, May 10, 2025, at The Ugly Art Co. gallery in Memphis, Tennessee.
ARTIST STATEMENT"MIO ELORY—my first solo exhibition—is the result of processing the disordered and disorienting mess of my 20s: the feeling of abandonment and abandoning, the feeling of confusion being queer in a world constricted by a set of arbitrary rules, the mystery of humans you aren't sure you can trust, the glowing anger that turns to hate toward yourself and others, the sadness you can't admit is there, the contradictory grief of the death of the unhealed and unhealthy version of myself I thought would always be there, and the complete ripping and horrifying euphoria you get when you're in psychosis.
These feelings and memories were too large and layered and tangled for just one medium. I created the world of MIO ELORY through 1 short story, 8 songs, 13 mixed media paintings, 40 collages, and an installation."
GAME 1, 36 in x 36 in, Mixed Media on Wood
GAME 2, 24 in x 48 in, Mixed Media on Wood
GAME 3, 24 in x 24 in, Mixed Media on Wood
GAME 4, 30 in x 48 in, Mixed Media on Canvas
GAME 5, 30 in x 30 in, Mixed Media on Wood
GAME 6, 36 in x 36 in, Mixed Media on Wood
GAME 7, 36 in x 36 in, Mixed Media on Wood
GAME 8, 42.5 in x 31 in, Mixed Media on Glass
GAME 9, 24 in x 36 in, Mixed Media on Wood
GAME 10, 33 in x 42 in, Mixed Media on Glass
GAME 11, 36 in x 48 in, Mixed Media on Wood
GAME 12, 17 in x 48 in, Mixed Media on Wood
GAME 13, 36 in x 48 in, Mixed Media on Canvas