Emily Noelle Causi is completing her final year of secondary studies and transitioning into university to pursue software engineering. Toronto is her home and she continues to develop her skills as a survivor of a catastrophic brain injury, caused by a ruptured arteriovenous malformation at sixteen years old.

The events that ensued were intensive rehabilitation, a craniotomy and continued therapy. Emily had never dabbled in any form of visual art before her medical event.

During her recovery period, she began to explore art as a means of therapy. Her work continues to evolve and is largely focused on self-expression through paint media.

Her brain injury opened up opportunities through a renewed lens as she processes and interacts with her environment. Her paintings continue to intrigue viewers, not only for their creative concepts, but also by offering insight into her life, surroundings, and state of mind. Offering these images up to viewers brings them closer to the artist as they become part of Emily’s journey of brain injury, self-expression, exploration and re-definition. 

Art photography by www.julianacausi.com

Emily Noelle Causi Art

Title: Languishing 

art by emily causi

Toronto, 2021

Acrylic and string on canvas 

Size: 11 x 13

Image Description:  A distressed, nude woman, with white skin and long dark hair. The woman is pulling the top of her head apart from the center, revealing a red interior. Featured in front of a grey and green blended background.

Title: Grid of Emotions  

art by emily causi

Toronto, 2021 

Mixed media 

Size: 16×19 

Image Description: A collage of 12 individual paintings. From left to right:

    • A silhouette of a body that has fallen under water.
    • A first person point of view of hands in front of kitchen sink and a damaged wall that reveals a striped pattern in the crack.
    • A silhouette looking into mirror in a dark room.
    • A metal vice clamping a person’s head.
    • A small sailboat in a rough wavy sea under the moonlight.
    • A portrait of a faceless woman, with a red hallow circle where her face was.
    • A person sticking their head through a wall that appears liquefied.
    • A distressed person bending their knees and grabbing their head that is shaped like a rectangle that is a blend of pink, yellow and white. The person is wearing a sweater and jeans.
    • An abstract image with multicolored layers stacked on one another.
    • An abstract image of an individual turned upside down. The body appears liquefied and melting in multicolor.
    • An image of an insect like creature, putting a red object over the head of a bright blue colored human crouching to the ground.
    • A staircase leading up to a person’s head which has a door over the face. An individual opens the door and inside is an image of a person crouching with their hands on their head.

Title: Longing for Tuscany 

art by emily causi

Title: Longing for Tuscany 

Toronto, 2021 

Acrylic on foam board 

Size: 19×30

Image Description:  A landscape paining of a small home situated on rolling green hills, with tall bushy trees and a blue sky.