"All the Fires in Heaven" new work by Coldhandsofgod (Zsofia Elise Kovari )

Friday, February 2, 2024
5:00 PM 9:00 PM 17:00 21:00

Make.Shift Art Space 306 Flora St Bellingham, WA, 98225 (map)

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Zsofia Elise Kovari (Ellie)

COLDHANDSOFGOD

"All the Fires in Heaven"

CONTENT WARNING:

This statement discusses violence and abuse. Please be advised.

CURATOR STATEMENT BY KELLY SORBEL

I met Ellie two years ago in the basement venue at Make.Shift Art Space. In that time I have gotten to know her personally through recording her band, Mem//Brane. While her vocals cut through mixes like an armor cladden undead warrior heading to battle, her community-focused love shines as you read her lyrics that are laden with anti-fascist and queer positive messages. Much like her music, Ellie’s photography shows the human that has been lost in the chaos and trauma of modernity.

For example, when viewing the mixed media piece The Knives in Me we see a collage composed from self-portraits, and photos of bones and flesh affixed to broken glass.

The images have been cropped and torn while layered upon each other creating a sweeping contrast between the subject and the distorted picture plane they rest on. We see the physical layers of the artist contrasting that beauty, death, and life that encapsulates us all.

Like many artists before her, Ellies uses her work as a tool to heal her own trauma while confronting and exposing violence in her own life. As she states:

“When I was a child I used to sing songs for God, just before I went to bed. I used to think that maybe if I sang well enough, when I woke up the next day God would have turned me into a girl. I continued doing this for a period of time, until I woke up in the middle of the night with a family member's penis in my mouth. It tasted and smelled bad. Now, sometimes while I'm going about my day the smell and taste will revisit me, as if it's happening again. Sometimes it makes me throw up. I stopped singing for God after that.”

Ellie’s perseverance and commitment to balking systematic abuse often drives me to try to do better in my community through the gospel that is punk rock. When we are together, the pain of being alone cannot last.