Shelli Weiler is a photography addict. She craves the short high that the successful image presents her and longs for the escapism that chance encounters bring her. To the artist, such happenstances feed her work, while she indulges in fantasies and hallucinatory dreams. Weiler’s portraits oftentimes figure people who could be seen in a David Lynch’s film. In fact, cinematography, fashion photography, drag, and magic theatre are at the very core of the artist’s foundational imagery.
As one regards Shelli Weiler’s photographs, one might feel tempted to question whether the documented happening is real or artificial, genuine or planned, improvised or thought-out, and one should do so. One looks at the artist’s work only to be taken away from what feels like a palpable reality and to travel a fine line between uncanniness and campness.
Chakra crystals rest on the window sill of Weiler’s apartment, creating a turbulence of colour in the early morning hours. “This phenomenon is one of few perks that replenishes my sanity.”, she says.