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Clover Morell joins Site Unseen as Assistant Curator

Submitted by Clover Morell

Project by Julie Laffin and Clover Morell

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” – Helen Keller

I have lived with a lifelong immune deficiency that has led to repeated glimpses of disability. In fact, over the past few years, much of my life has been guided by a desire to grow comfortable with the pain, fatigue and depression that have become a regular part of my life. With age, my deficiency has turned into disease and I am spending more time trying to manage the discomfort. Unlike Site Unseen curator Julie Laffin, I still have more good days than bad ones. For this I feel blessed and a deep empathy for all the people in my community whom are struggling with their own “disabling conditions”. There are so many of us.

Out of oppressive conditions, people thrive and produce courageous, stunning gestures. We process complicated and difficult experiences by giving voice to an existence we might otherwise hold in silence. This is how we persevere. It is not only a labor of love but also one of necessity. Site Unseen is a testament to this. Within the show you can find relationships between contemplation, play, labor and interaction that offer us new ways of seeing the world. Live art and media unfolds into the architecture of the Cultural Center in just the perfect combination, allowing visitors a magical and visceral encounter with language.

I have been involved in Site Unseen as both a performer and an audience member since its first incarnation in 2004. I have a special place in my heart for the show. In fact, there is no other space in Chicago that feels quite as much like an artistic home to me. With that, I am excited to continue my work within Site Unseen and The Chicago Cultural Center, especially in my new role as Assistant Curator. It is a great honor for me to work with Julie (who is an endless inspiration) and offer my presence within the space as her translator and an intermediary. It is my hope that the fewer number of artists involved this year will give the viewers a chance to really sit with each piece and engage in the work. We have an amazing group who all offer much to contemplate and enjoy. As an intermediary, I invite you to share with me your thoughts about the work and spend some time with both Julie and I during the show to discuss your impressions.

Clover Morell

Clover Morell is a Chicago based interdisciplinary performance artist and curator living with celiac disease. She recently received an MFA in Performance Studies from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago.

Clover makes solo and group performances from assemblages of movement, writing and media. Her work utilizes collaborative methods to explore interpersonal dynamics, human behavior, somatic psychology, power and trauma and has been exhibited in Chicago at The Chicago Cultural Center, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Museum, MOTO Restaurant, and abroad at The Prague Quadrennial (in collaboration with Julie Laffin). Clover is currently working on projects engaged with political and ephemeral street art, contemporary choreography and the making of maps through sensory experience.

Project by Elizabeth Czekner and Clover Morell