Elyse-Krista AnnaMarie Mische
Statement
From my early years as a child correlating the extinction of the dinosaurs with the impermanence of human nature to my present-day coupling of thanatology with creative pursuits, art-making has always been my most accessible mode of expression and connection. I want to understand and be understood, goals I work towards through interdisciplinary creative practices that combine fine art with childhood craft, thanatological research with imagination, and introspection with extrospection. Using a multitude of mediums and processes helps me to be on the ready to explore my own and others’ ideas in a variety of ways for more opportunity to see life and death from all-sides. I like to say that we know what it means to exist (some days more than others) but we can only imagine what it means to not exist. Art is a tool I use to cultivate visual pauses amidst the speed of time where self/other- awareness can be fostered with appreciation of the unknown while reflecting on what it means to be here now… and maybe later in some nature of transcendence.
BIO
Elyse-Krista Mische is an Appleton, WI based artist, a Creative Thanatologist, an avid gardener, and a multifaceted member of the funeral profession. Through multidisciplinary creative practices, Thanatological research, and interactions with people and place, Elyse-Krista explores concepts of time, memory, and mortality. As a neurodivergent existentialist she uses her artwork and community engagement practices as change-making tools. Elyse-Krista hopes to expand, normalize, and embrace visual and verbal conversations around personal and collective existential issues.
Elyse-Krista is a Credentialed Thanatologist through the Association for Death Education and Counseling, she holds a MS in Thanatology (Marian University, 2024) and a BA in Studio Art (Lawrence University, 2011), she is a Dementia Specialist Designation (UW-Oshkosh, 2020), a certified TimeSlips facilitator, and she serves as the Chair of the Appleton Public Arts Committee.
Elyse-Krista is excited to found and facilitate Fare-Well: Art & Death Café in partnership with TMA, on behalf of the Fox Valley community. She looks forward to creating and talking with you about art, life, death, and everything in between!