Through the time-intensive process of cutting intricate patterns into images, Elise Wehle creates powerful images imbued with humanity
Expecting art to take a backseat after welcoming her first child in 2016, Elise Wehle was surprised to find herself immediately itching to create again. Now with a toddler and a baby, her life can get pretty chaotic. But for Wehle, making art is about more than harnessing an innate creative energy; it’s also about the meditative flow she experiences when using her hands. As her hands settle into a rhythm cutting intricate patterns into images, her mind calms and opens to inspiration for her life and art. This daily meditation has become key to maintaining balance throughout the challenges of life as an artist and mother.
Wehle’s love for the meticulous traces back to childhood visits with her parents to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. It was in the Getty that she first viewed Gothic illuminated manuscripts, which would significantly impact her later artwork. Although she did not have the experience or words to articulate her fascination with the embellished texts at the time, she recognized the familiar attraction to pattern while serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in southern Spain. In Granada, pattern permeates every facet of the city, Wehle explained. “It covers everything from holy churches to the most ordinary spaces.” At the pinnacle of her awe stood the Alhambra, a centuries-old palace and fortress adorned with elaborate carvings. Although not a place of worship, the Alhambra incited feelings of reverence within Wehle.
“Knowing that every little pattern was carved by hand and not by a machine, but just through the sheer determination of these artists, really impacted me,” Wehle said. Wehle recalled experiencing similar feelings during her early exposure to illuminated manuscripts and while visiting cathedrals in France. In all three cases—the Alhambra, illuminated manuscripts and cathedrals—pattern contributes to spiritual experience, Wehle explained, because you can sense the artist’s devotion through the repetition of details.
In her current body of work, Wehle seeks to emulate this approach by cutting complex patterns into carefully chosen images of people and places. These images become amplified by this slow process, taking on layered meaning and significance. The cutouts create negative space, representative of unseen emotional experiences within her subjects. For both her portraits and landscapes, Wehle finds or makes quiet images with soft features that won’t detract from the pattern.
“For me, the best kind of imagery works like good poetry, where it doesn’t spell everything out for you and leaves room for the viewer to bring their own experiences to the table,” Wehle said. “I don’t want the image to be a blank canvas for the pattern, but it’s important that it doesn’t overpower the pattern either. If you cut too much, there’s no recognizable imagery, but if you don’t cut enough, the pattern isn’t impactful.”
Wehle described the process of choosing an image for a portrait as “a visceral, intuitive experience.” Usually a subtle pose or facial expression—the gesture of a hand, a sloped back, an extended neck—will draw her in. When she can immediately envision where the pattern should go, she knows she needs to follow the creative process to its completion. As a student at BYU, Wehle focused mainly on printmaking, with a few experiments in papercutting. Her final BFA show included weavings that resembled glitch art and explored the impact of technological advancement on perspective and memories. “It was pretty different from what I’ve done since then,” Wehle said, “which is kind of funny because you think your final show is what you’re going to do for the rest of your life.”
After graduating in 2012, Wehle shifted away from printmaking and toward papercutting, which she could do in her small home studio with an X-ACTO knife. Although she didn’t produce much art during the six months following graduation, Wehle regained momentum when she acted on a friend’s challenge to produce an artwork every two days for 60 days.
Since then, Wehle has had the opportunity to exhibit her work regularly at galleries and art fairs around the globe. Her work has also been featured in many publications, including The Guardian, Hi-Fructose, Fresh Paint and the Jealous Curator.
In recent artwork, Wehle has experimented with cutting into drawings rather than photographs. Since drawings take weeks of work and cannot be reprinted if she makes a mistake, the act of cutting into them carries more risk. With her first attempt, Shroud 1, she wanted to see how the increased risk changed her perception of the final piece. After its completion, Wehle noted, “This has been one of the most fulfilling pieces I’ve made to date.” This exploration led to additional graphite work, including Revelation. “I’ve realized the art that excites me the most often makes big sacrifices,” Wehle said. “Through that process the work becomes interesting, and I wanted this to be interesting.”
Artist Statement
My artwork revolves around the time-intensive act of cutting intricate patterns using an utility knife. Moving my hands in the repetitive movements required by my work transforms my art practice into a meditative experience essential to my process. The themes of my art are centered on my attempts to connect my physical surroundings with the rich, complicated, internal and spiritual environments experienced within. The cut-out pattern interferes with the representational imagery, obstructing the seen with the unseen. No matter how many paper layers intersect with the photograph or drawing, the cut outs ultimately act as negative space, forming lines and shapes out of nothing. Despite the patterns' clearly defined edges, they are actually invisible, like the experiences they represent.
