Danielle “Elle” Billing is one of nine winners of the 2024 Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities. This award is designed to support accessibility in the arts and celebrate the exceptional work of disabled Midwestern visual artists.
“My name is Elle Billing; I am an artist, caregiver, and educator. Making art is how I filter a continuous stream of information, through the particular lens of my queer disabled bodymind.
Currently, I am interested in exploring concepts of memory, gender, and identity. I am reconstructing the western feminine literary experience through mixed media with a focus on vintage texts and artifacts. I create paintings through an iterative process I call Spiritual Archaeology. I layer my personal experiences between literary influences and contemporary media, using mixed media and bold marks. My influences stack up on a common theme, and as I scrape back what I have layered, I am able to excavate a singular truth about my Self and my place in the world.
Through each process iteration, I produce a cohesive body of work of around 12 pieces. The materials I am most excited by are vintage books, acrylic paint, all manner of pastels, and compelling songwriter-vocalists. I am deeply drawn to surrealism, artistic tension, the multiverse, and alternate timelines. In the studio you will find me deconstructing old books, making my own collage paper, and infusing my work with the power of story.“
