“I grew up in Uptown, Chicago and received my BFA in Fine Art from Columbia College Chicago. I draw inspiration from the interaction of spaces and bodies and the experience of a former presence.

Using handmade paper, photography, and various other materials, I explore the liminal spaces that were once filled and now host only remnants. When I'm not working in my home studio and creating smaller pieces, I'm working hard towards bettering my community by building connections using art.

There are two main divisions that can be seen in my work: the first being visual explorations of when spaces and bodies converge and part ways and connections are nothing but the ghosts they left behind, and the second being physical manifestations of bringing people into a space to build new connections, experiences, and communities.”

-Isabella Aimone

How would you describe your installation and what do you want visitors to take away from your installation? 

My installation in 6 Artists / 6 Spaces is a reimagining of my body of work titled Exploration in Atrophy. Exploration in Atrophy consists of photographs of decaying buildings throughout Chicago and the Midwest that were compiled and shown at a solo exhibition at the C33 gallery in Chicago.

The liminal space within a building that has been abandoned is both empty and full, physically deprived of most human possessions but emotionally plentiful in stimulus and mystery. Being inside a place with no borders evokes a sense of freedom to do anything and go anywhere, but this doesn’t come without the heightened awareness that fear and caution bring when being in a space that is more or less unregulated.

Abandoned buildings are where man-made destruction and natural decay meet and are intimately intertwined with each other in the most beautiful, seductive, and almost human way. These places feel frozen in time with decades under their belt. There is no real way to describe the stagnant yet active air inside of these structures, but I hope my photos, and now this installation, help convey a small part of what I fell in love with in these buildings. 

What was your experience with this exhibition and what were some of the challenges you faced? 

Exploration in Atrophy is a 2D display of 3D pieces. Having to rebuild my concept from 2D back into 3D while still paying appropriate homage to the original location deemed a difficult task.

Now considering much of this installation will be viewed as a 2D exhibit, I hope that my replica of these spaces conveys as much of the ephemera as physically being in the original location. Many of the locations in my photographs no longer exist; it felt very cathartic to be able to revisit them and re-sculpt them into existence inside the gallery. 

How has the process of this installation transformed the way you think about your work and will you consider a more immersive medium for your artwork in the future? 

This is one of my only bodies of work that is 2-dimensional. I feel as though my concepts are better explored through immersive and 3-dimensional objects. It has been very beneficial to be able to also reimagine this as a totally immersive environment.