Sean Yseult Solo Show

FRIDAY, 5/6 7-10PM for the second weekend of Jazzfest we are proud to present “Dorveille” a solo exhibition by Sean Yseult

Dorveille by Sean Yseult Artist Statement:

Dorveille is my newest photography collection, and yet it takes me back to my beginning.
Back in my teens, the first photos I ever shot were with an old Polaroid Land Camera. No matter what or whom I shot, the results were always mesmerizing. The photos were dreamlike, haunting, and timeless. Decades later, I still strive for those qualities, even if I have to use more modern means.These elements also describe dorveille: the dreamlike state between sleep and wakefulness. Many great artists and writers reference dorveille as their time of inspiration. It has certainly been an important time of day for me, when all is quiet and the mind can wander.
One morning I woke up early and ventured out with my camera. New Orleans was still asleep, and I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. Something urged me on from uptown to the levee. When I climbed to the top, everything was tucked in under a perfect blanket of fog. I felt as though I was in a dream, and had to capture every moment and scene. I wandered alone for hours in the fog, under a spell. Everything was haunting and magical: even an array of industrial refuse looked beautiful.
I began to read the late night weather reports. At the Fly, a concrete path with wooden benches and lamps transformed into an eerie and beautiful night in Paris circa1800s. In Audubon Park the centuries old Live Oaks are magical enough on their own. But the fog created a fairy tale for me to wander through. Later in the French Quarter, I came across a Steamboat - not blasting calliope music and steam, but docked silently in the fog.
In real life, I am unable to capture the dream, the haunting, or the moment. Here I have documented proof. I think of these photos as my reward: I am elated to have captured these magical dream-like moments during the hours of dorveille.

Sean Yseult is a musician, photographer and designer best known as the bassist of the band White Zombie. A scholarship graduate of Parsons School of Design NYC, she studied design and photography, and graduated Cum Laude with a BA in Design. Prior to college, she was a scholarship graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, studying ballet and visual arts.

Sean grew up in Raleigh N.C. with sister Dierdre Alisoun and parents Michael Reynolds, a noted Hemingway Scholar, and mother Ann, both English professors. Her childhood was consumed with the arts, starting piano lessons at age five with training in composition and improv, both classically and in the blues. By age eight she was performing in jazz clubs, playing blues improv on piano. At the age of six, she began ballet lessons, and was also creating her own graphic designs, influenced by her parents’ 60’s rock posters, books of Peter Max and M.C. Escher.

Sean was the co-founder, songwriter and bassist for White Zombie. She additionally created graphics, packaging design and logos for the band during her time at Parsons in NYC and afterwards. The band has two triple-platinum records, two Grammy nominations, and an MTV Moonman. White Zombie headlined sold out arenas for years and toured world-wide, playing to crowds of 80,000 to 300,000 fans. 

Upon White Zombie’s break-up, Sean returned to her love of photography and design.

Her first solo photography show was in New Orleans 2012 and sold out opening night. Since then she has had multiple shows nationwide, and curated a show in San Francisco featuring her work and fellow musicians/artists such as Moby, Pat Sansone of Wilco, and Mike Watt of Minutemen.

Yseult Designs began in 2008 with Sean’s psychedelic rock’n’roll silk scarves and pillows, sold in Liberty London, Bendels and Barneys. Since then she has expanded into home decor, and looks forward to finding new worlds to cover in her creative hand drawn designs.