Anjella is a Geelong born and bred artist. Her primarily artform is photography and she is currently undertaking her PhD in photography through Deakin University. However, she dabbles in other artforms and recently has been doing some amazing stuff with AI (Artificial Intelligence) through her business Lilith & The Machine (hot tip – if you are into tarot, you need to check this out!).
In terms of her photography, Anjella creates stunning portraits by commission, which alone mark her skills. But Anjella has taken her art to a whole new level in her studies and consequently produced works around themes such as abuse and trauma.
Anjella first came to my attention when I heard about her series ‘Without Consent’ which aims to raise awareness about the subject of rape, by starting a conversation about the issue of rape culture and its cycle through our history. The series examines the abuse of women in Victoria, in both early colonial times and current day, questioning the lack of significant changes to the traumas perpetuated on so many women. Anjella uses vegetation removed from the location where the abuse occurred to create incredibly delicate and beautiful lumen prints – the stories behind the artworks catalogue and express the horrors of the abuse experience, but the inherent beauty of the artworks speaks to the power of these women, who continue to survive. The series is ongoing and Anjella welcomes any abuse survivors who would like to take part.
More recently Anjella has been working on a new series, Masks of Trauma for her PhD. This series explores her own trauma experiences, and how she deals with these. She has produced haunting images that invite you into her personal space to experience the process with her. Within this series she is also starting to combine some of her artistic approaches, creating photographs (subtitled Soulwalkers) and then using the photos to develop an AI component to the series (subtitled Dreamwalkers).
Artists like Anjella play such an important role in connecting survivors of abuse and trauma, helping show them that they are not alone. The recognition of what survivors go through is needed any which way, but by shining a light into these dark spaces, healing is encouraged and the likelihood of the abuse being able to occur in the first place is reduced. As a society, we need this.
Anjella is part of an upcoming group exhibition at The Space Gallery called ‘Adaptim’ from 24 December through to 13 January. To learn more about Anjella or to view her works head to anjellaroseller.com.au or check out her Insta and FB pages (@anjella_roessler or @lilith_and_the_machine). Anjella’s new tarot deck will be available very soon, pre-orders can be made by messaging her.
Story: Amanda Frienze. Photos supplied by Anjella Roessler. 1. Self Portrait. 2. Masks of Trauma Soulwalkers. 3. Without Consent. 4. Lilith & The Machine Taro Deck. 5. Masks of Trauma Dreamwalkers.
HuG 