Between Us is a sound-based installation centered on a transparent acrylic divider, from which a small speaker emits a fragmented voicemail: “Please stop ignoring me, please answer, please answer the phone.” As the viewer moves through the space, the voice reverberates around them, evoking a palpable sense of urgency and emotional exposure. On the opposite wall, the words Stop Ignoring Me appear, visible through the clear plane.

The work stages an encounter between intimacy and distance—between human presence and technological mediation. Its full resonance unfolds only through the viewer’s movement and attention, revealing the body’s essential role in completing the piece.

Stop Ignoring Me

Stop Ignoring Me is an immersive sound installation centered around an 8’ x 4’ x ¾” Plexiglas divider that directs viewers to engage with either the left or right side of the gallery space. By physically guiding movement and perception, the work invites a critical encounter with the spatial, social, and emotional dimensions of separation and control. Originally exhibited at the Goldey Paley Gallery, the installation is part of D’Emilio’s extended research into power imbalances within relationships and the limitations of uni-directional communication (2011–2014).

Stop Ignoring Me (Detail)

Weight of I'm Sorry

Growth is what relationships do to us — not just emotionally, but physically. Driftwood stands in as a metaphor for stability: weathered, resilient, and sometimes barely holding it together. From these fragments emerge half-formed female figures, caught between becoming and unraveling. They speak to the quiet, complicated realities of womanhood — loss, isolation, desire — the push and pull between strength and surrender.