NEVER ENDINGS
BFA THESIS / 2025
‘Never Endings’ is the 10 Year Anniversary Exhibition celebrating the career of singer, pop star, and artist Ivy Elizabeth. Rocketing to stardom at the age of 15 took its toll on Ivy, but after a few crazy years she found her footing and began to truly develop her own artistic identity. Titling each of her past 8 albums after hyper-specific emotions representative of some of her most exhilarating life experiences, this exhibition marks the start of a brand new Ivy.
Through this project, I have researched complex emotions and multidisciplinary art as a tool to represent them. Very early in life do we learn how to visually depict and evoke simple emotions such as happiness, sadness, and fear. My goal was to discover words that described much more complex emotions and find ways to accurately represent them, combining strategies from various simple emotions.
CHRYSALISM
ALBUM 1
09/19/2015
Released September 19th, 2015, Ivy Elizabeth’s debut album, Chrysalism, describes the tranquil feeling of being alone and indoors during a thunderstorm; a feeling comparable to the choice of being alone and resisting the challenges and drama of growing up a teenage girl in the digital age.
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July 3rd, 2015
Things have been kinda crazy. I put Nimbus on SoundCloud a couple days ago to show mom… and now it has 6 millions streams? Record labels have been reaching out and Mom and Dad have been looking for a lawyer before we talk to them. A few news stations and magazines have even been reaching out, but it’s kind of scary because we don’t know how they even got dad’s email. Not really sure where this could go anyways and def don’t even want to start getting my hopes up.. we know how that goes.
Everyone is acting so weird these past few days though. A month ago Alex was talking to Maddie about me, but now she wont stop messaging me and making muscal.ly’s to my song. Even the girls who I think run the school confessions page posted something nice about me. I’m kinda afraid to post anything now that thousands of strangers have started following me. Some of them are kind of mean though? I’m used to ignoring comments like that but there’s been a storm of love and hate so I’ve kind of stopped looking. I don’t get it though, it’s make song that blew up, so why is everybody else so affected? I don’t know how to feel about so many people hearing my lyrics either, it feels like they mean less to me now than when they were only mine. I can tell Mom and Dad are nervous too, Mom’s been stress cleaning and Dad has been on the phone for days straight. This feels like a dream, but it will probably only last a few more days I think.
September 17th, 2015
My album comes out tomorrow… I can’t believe I’m saying that. I have to get ready to go to the release event Time+Space is throwing for me. They have been really nice but dad has still been arguing with them about how much pressure they put on me to make this album quickly. I’m a little bit nervous nobody is going to listen to it or really events wants it, but I guess I’m not really used to anybody wanting to listen anyways. They kind of just did.
I wont be in school next week because I have to fly to California after a few days here. I am gonna be doing interviews on the news which dad has also been arguing with the label about. I am just really scared and don’t really think I have anything to tell them, anything I wanted to say is in my music. I would rather sing alone into a mic than tell the whole word live on tv. They say its really important for my first album though. They say if this does my next contract will be for 5 albums not just 3 again.
Everybody at school wanted to come to the release party tonight but I ended up only inviting like 20 of them. They’ve all been bothering me to hear some of the music but I am not supposed to let anyone outside of Time+Space hear it. I did play a little bit for May though, she is one of the only people that has not been weird to me. She actually told me she didn’t like Nimbus, but she’s always been really honest with me I think that’s why we are such good friends.
ATARAXIA
ALBUM 2
03/04/2016
While the pressure of the world was on her shoulders, Ataraxia, released on March 14th of 2016, describes the ultimate release of anxiety, stress, or emotional disturbance. It was the sonic and lyrical world of serene psychedelia that Ivy was trying to create for herself at this time in her life.
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November 10th, 2015
Just met with the label and well it went horribly! If this next album doesn’t do well they’re basically gonna drop me. On top of that they want me to take my music a more mainstream direction.
Bringing May to a party later though, and she’s soooo nervous. She hasn’t met any of my industry friends yet, but I think she’ll have fun she said she’d take shrooms which I think would be so good for her.The principal said they might have to kick her out of the excelled arts program because of her grades, but she can’t really help it, she’s been feeling uninspired… so I’m hoping this will do the trick... it has for me... plus a few other things I guess.
February 23rd, 2016
Well the album’s done. I have to play it for the label tomorrow and I kind of just don’t care what they have to say.. I think this psychedelic pop sound is so much more me than the electronic shit they wanted me to make. They’re gonna drop me or they’re not gonna drop me… it’s out of my control now. Still trying to figure out how to pitch my idea for the visuals to the label without telling them the concept is psychedelic drug garden.
May 2nd, 2016
They’re dropping me. The fans loved it, the public didn’t care, and the label hates me. That was a fuck ass year. Fuck em.
CRAXIS
ALBUM 3
01/15/2018
With complete creative control, Ivy released her third album, Craxis, on January 15th of 2018. At it’s core, it is a total embrace of a state of vulnerability, danger, and unknown change— it was the album that Ivy was betting her whole future on and it represented that risk exactly.
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November 15th, 2017
I think I’m gonna do it. I’m a senior in a high school and I don’t have a fucking clue what my future looks like so wtf do I have to lose. I started working on a song last night and it’s kinda cool. It combines Chrysalism and Ataraxia with a little bit of rock, it sounds crazy right now but I think I could tighten it into something cool. I actually had the idea while I was watching Psycho last night, the music when Marion gets killed is kinda funky so I interpollated it on the song with her screams. Tbh I kind of feel like her right now… looking back the last year has been me in a peaceful state of delusion and now I’m having the scariest wake up call. But I’m really inspired so I think I can write this record pretty quickly.
January 4th, 2018
I can’t believe I’m even writing this. I’m signed to Wormhole Records and they want to start booking a TOUR. Pyscho is still trending and the radio stations are playing it more and more. They want to film a music video next week and have the album out the week after. The billboards just went up yesterday and Twitter is going crazy. People really missed me??? Mom and Dad are a little nervous, they say this feels similar to what happened before… but I think it feels different this time.
September 7th, 2018
Korea is amazing!!!! It is still so surreal to be in ASIA getting recognized for my music!!! I can’t believe how quickly things have changed. Turns out I really just needed to surround myself with the right people. Also...... I haven’t wanted to write about it but I think I think I’ve kind of fallen in love.... my guitarist, Levi, and I started going on dates during a couple months ago... and now we’re dating. I really really like him, he’s really funny and really talented too and he’s just so so so fun to be around. We still have a few more months on the road. We’re not sure if we should tell everyone else yet, but they might already know.
ALBUM 4
LIMERENCE
06/25/21
Released on June 25th of 2021, Limerence was just as much a celebration of love between a couple as it was one’s own self love. With a lockdown that, for many, resulted in a loss of self love and more time spent in the mirror critiquing oneself, Ivy was determined to share the opposite message. Love is contagious and the message of the album was no different.
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September 7th, 2018
Korea is amazing!!!! It is still so surreal to be in ASIA getting recognized for my music!!! I can’t believe how quickly things have changed. Turns out I really just needed to surround myself with the right people.
Also...... I haven’t wanted to write about it but I think. I think I’ve kind of fallen in love.... my guitarist, Levi, and I started going on dates during a couple months ago... and now we’re dating. I really really like him, he’s really funny and really talented too and he’s just so so so fun to be around. We still have a few more months on the road. We’re not sure if we should tell everyone else yet, but they might already know.
March 30, 2021
So our travel plans got cancelled because of COVID, so me and Levi are gonna quarantine together…. nervous but excited. I guess I’m gonna write the album from home as well. Really scary times though, I just hope the world will be okay.
April 20th, 2022
Writing this because I haven’t spoken all day... trying to preserve my voice for weekend 2. I knew Coachella was iconic and could do a lot for people’s careers, but I can’t believe it’s really happening for me. Every time I look at Twitter and TikTok there’s a new angle of my performance going viral and Limerence streams are skyrocketing. I feel like I’m dreaming! In the middle of rehearsal though, have to get back to practicing... I have a few surprises in store for everyone. So excited for tour!
SONDER
ALBUM 5
09/08/2023
Sonder is a visual album that showcases chaotic feeling of realizing just how many completely unique lives are taking place around us and highlights the ways in which they unknowingly overlap and interact. It is a humbling realization that there are so many people on this one shared Earth, and that the power that fame has given Ivy is one that must be treated with extreme care.
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July 8th, 2022
I can’t believe I completely forgot this on tour!!! It was such an incredible experience, I ended up starting the new album because of it actually. Since we decided to do less stops this tour, I got to really enjoy the places we went and interact with the locals. The stories I heard from fans were so moving I feel like I really came to understand how much I mean to some people as well as just the vastly different conditions of each and every one of our lives. For the next record really want to do a visual album that highlights the lives of other people instead of just my own.
May and I have already been brainstorming ideas for the album and tour though. It’s gonna be way more intimate and personal and more like a theatrical experience. I can’t wait to pitch it to the team, but for now I’m just gonna keep writing the music... it’s my favorite yet!!!
PARALLAX
ALBUM 7
01/10/2025
Parallax is a double album released on January 10th of 2025, with one side representing her own experience through the break-up and the other side representing her putting herself in her boyfriend’s shoes to understand his side of it. The first side, Vellichor, documents Ivy’s experience as she looks around and sees the remnants of a once healthy love. The other side, Ephemeros, describes Ivy’s attempt at understanding her ex’s perspective and why he was stuck in the past in a state of delusional bliss.
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November 9th, 2023
Levi and I broke up. He still doesn’t seem to get why.. he’s always kinda been so stuck in the past he couldn’t see what was happening between us. It’s almost been as upsetting to break up as it has been to watch him get so hurt by this rude awakening. I’m heartbroken though. It feels like if I didn’t have this fame and wasn’t touring so much or just had more time this wouldn’t be happening. I’m trying not to wish I lived in that universe but it’s such a defeating feeling. I have so much to be grateful for but is this always going to be a problem?
January 10th, 2024.
The albums come out tonight. I’m scared to be so publicly vulnerable. It’s been so hard but so therapeautic to make this double album but I think the message is important. I saw some fans who live in New Zealand already putting the pieces together and understanding the concept— they seem to really like it. My biggest fear is what he’s gonna think when he hears it... if he hears it.
Performance rehearsals and tour planning has been hard without him, especially since this one is gonna be a year long. May said she’d come along which will definitely be fun but I can’t imagine having to sing these songs every night.
I’m excited for the world to see what I’ve created though. It’s one of my favorite shoots I’ve ever done and is packed with a lot of personal easter eggs. I’m sure the fans are gonna find them instantly but there are a few that only I know about.. and Levi of course.
THE STORYBOOK:
NEVER ENDINGS
EXHIBITION
05/02/2025
