Wikipedia Biography / Profile Background
Introduction :
Emma Sulkowicz was a student of Columbia University who made national headlines for a work of endurance performance art she created.
Personal Life, Parents and Family Details :
- Emma was born on 3rd October 1992 in Manhattan, New York.
- Family : Her parents, Sandra Leong and Kerry Sulkowicz, were both practicing psychiatrists.
- She attended Dalton School on the Upper East Side.
- Education : Having dreams of one day selling her works and opening her own gallery, she applied to numerous art programs in Universities across the country.
- She was accepted into Columbia University in 2011 to study a degree in Visual Arts.
Fame as a Mattress Girl :
- In 2015, Emma created a piece of endurance performance art for her senior thesis during the final year of her visual arts degree.
- The piece was titled Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight).
- The concept of her piece was that she would carry a 50-lb mattress with her whenever she was on campus during her final year at Columbia University.
- The mattress was said to be the same brand and weight as the one used in Columbia dorms. She stated that she would only stop the performance if her attacker was brought to justice, or at the very least expelled from her campus.
- The piece went on until her graduation in 2015, when she carried the mattress across the stage to receive her degree.
Events Inspiring Her Performance :
- Emma stated that she created the piece in response to the fact that she was assaulted in her dorm room in 2012.
- She wanted the piece to be well-known as she stated that the University had swept her concerns under the rug & she was being forced to co-exist with her rapist on campus.
- She alleged that in August of 2012, on the first day of her second year, she was choked, slapped, and anally assaulted in her dorm room.
- She admits that the incident initially began as a consensual encounter, however, when she attempted to stop the interaction – that was when her attacker became violent.
- Emma filed a complaint with the university in April of 2013, a total of eight months after the attack occurred.
- She explained that she only filed that complaint once having learnt that the same person had allegedly attacked 2 other women on campus.
- The university took no action. She then filed a police complaint in May 2014 but the district attorney decided not to pursue any charges due to a lack of evidence.
Other Performances as an Artist :
- After her graduation, Emma set to work launching her career as an artist.
- Her most recognisable pieces since then include: ‘Newspaper Bodies’ (Look, Mom, I’m On The Front Page!),’ May 2015. ‘Ceci N’est Pas Un Viol,’ June 2015 & ‘Self Portrait,’ March 2016.