Stephanie Lister – Analog Artist Digital World

I went to The Space (1206 E Colonial Dr. Orlando FL) on August 24th, right after “The Red Chair Affair” at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center (401 W Livingston St Orlando, FL). Jessica Earley had organized a one night only performance driven event with a committed group of experimental artists who love what they do and love you too.

Several artists were invited to perform,
they each then curated another artist to show visual works.

The Space turned out to be a small apartment right above a pizza shop near Mills Avenue. The front door was locked, so I went out back where a crowd was gathered. Mark Baratelli was just leaving. He reported that the event was packed and very hot. Having never been in the space, I had to go up to get a sketch. Admission was $2. The place was more than hot, it was a furnace. My stiff collared dress shirt became semi transparent with sweat. I whipped my brow with my tie.

There was a performance going on when I entered but there were so many people packed in the room, that I decided a sketch would be impossible. I went into a room filled with art and sat with my back against a closet door to sketch.

Performing artists included, Jessica Earley,
Jack Fields,
Ashley Inguanta,
Melanie Lister,
Stephanie Lister,
Hannah Miller,
Jorgen Nicholas Trygved, and Christin Caviness. Hannah curated art by Winter Calkins. Winter had a fascinating piece that used cigarette butts as a sort of pointillism to depict someones lips and jaw. I was pleased that Winter knew of my work.

The large piece to my left was by Jack Fields. It had intricate crochet work, a sort of wizards hat and eyes peering out from everywhere. Flip-flops were enshrined on red velvet pillows. In the center of the room, letters were torn and re-assembled behind Plexiglas. The one line I could read said, “I hope you can say sorry.” The room itself was painted to look like the inside of a human body. Ribs and muscles were painted everywhere. The room had been used in a film and the walls were painted to show that the character was going insane. The film is now being submitted to film festivals.

Terry stopped in briefly with Matt McGrath. They couldn’t stand the heat and left to go to a bar. With the sketch done, I walked around and said hello to Becky Lane and Tisse Mallon. Jessica Earley had mascara running down her cheeks. She looked like a battered wife or junkie. The disheveled look must have been for her performance piece. She had been concerned about how many people would show up. I believe she maxed out the capacity at The Space. I know that Christin performed a dance piece in the hot crowded space. Afterwards she went outside to collapse and catch her breath. Ashley gave her last poetry reading before she moved to NYC. I thought that I didn’t see a single performance. As it turned out, I had sketched Jorgen Nicholas Trygveddoing an adaptation of “The Artist is Present” in which he Skyped in silence with people in a neighboring room. Now I know why he sat there so long staring at his computer. This was the performance that most intrigued me when I read the invitation, because I had been in NYC on the final day of Marina Abromovic‘s “The Artist is Present“.

I soaked up the ambiance like a wet sweaty sponge.

As I left, the dance party was pulsing in the back room DJ’d by
Jorgen. Terry wanted me to meet Matt and her at a bar, but my fancy leather loafers were giving me blisters. I think I over dressed and I was spent.

Hyper-Bolic, written and performed by Jessica Earley, was staged at the Venue on Virginia Avenue before Fringe. This show was raw and intensely personal, being all about Jessica’s break up with a boyfriend. Lindsay Smith and Stephanie Lister helped Jessica throughout the production. This performance was for one night only and the Venue was packed. The performance combined puppetry, dance and some forms of performance that defy definition. The show was build around the five stages of grief. I knew Jessica from her paintings which often expose women’s issues. When she spoke of her work in the past, she was always soft spoken yet sincere.

Things began quietly enough with a short shadow puppet show that presented love in it’s ideal form, lasting forever and surmounting mountains and streams. I sketched Jessica as she held a deer puppet as she said, “Oh Dear!” The stage was covered in white blankets and Jessica was covered in a white robe appearing like an ancient shaman. She sang to a small horse puppet that questioned her singing abilities. On this lonely landscape she masturbated with a huge sewing needle and held a conversation with a button which someone later told me was a symbol for the vagina.

Jessica stood on a table and imitated the poses of ideal couples who hugged and expressed love in idealized advertising images. The images flickered by at an increasing pace and she struggles to keep up. She used a cardboard laptop to try and reach out via social media which offered empty meaningless comfort from well meaning friends, leaving her lonelier than before.

A large dream catcher was assembled and Jessica became entwined
in it and struggled to break free as if caught in a spider’s web. Things truly became raw when Jessica called on a few friends to come on stage and join her in a ritual of healing. They each placed their hands on her as she raised her arms and shouted to the sky, “Heal me!” I noticed one of her friends had tears in her eyes as she participated in the ritual. Jack Fields who was seated at my table was called up and he told me later that he didn’t realize he would become part of the act, but having participated he felt even more involved in the act of recovery.

Jessica was able to catch lightning in a bottle. Everyone has experienced the heartbreak of relationships which don’t stand the test of time, and Jessica had found a way to express the torment and agony. I knew that Jessica had started modeling at Full Sail and it made sense that this exposure offered a form of personal acceptance. At the end of the show she stood before the audience naked as her hands laced through words of redemption and recovery. I truly hope that she expands on the show and hopefully brings it to next years Fringe. She has hit a raw and fragile nerve. I had witnessed a performance that was truly trans-formative. How amazing to see an artist hit fill stride, finding new and creative ways to express herself. I felt honored to have been present.