Emily Sasmor is a new media artist based in Brooklyn, NY. They create animated operatic visual albums telling stories about violence and the comforts upheld by it. In the past these projects included animation, sculpture, installation, and writing, but in her current body of work these stories play out within animated narratives constructed through musical forms, Jewish mysticism, and the ways information is experienced in the age of the internet. These animations use a combination of original and appropriated images, audio, and texts that appear on screen simultaneously. The maximalist 2D and 3D environments created from that information are explored by queer, androgynous characters singing about their longings. These projects are released like albums; they are sent through the mail, streamed, and downloaded. Each version offers a way to sift through the stories and explore the violent realities that hide underneath them.
These projects have appeared in various shows, festivals, and screenings including; Curyatid in Hudson Yards, 20/92 Video Festival, and Digerati Emergent Media Festival. They have been awarded a Cultural Counsel Video Grant, and Guaranteed Income from Creatives Rebuild New York. They run Single Channel, an experimental art publishing house producing works experienced at a viewer’s own pace. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a BFA from Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University.