In many of her recent gallery performances, Arsem has focused on current political issues. Her site-specific performances, often designed for audiences of a single person, respond to both the history of the site, as well as to the immediate landscape and materiality of the location. The events are designed to implicate the audience directly in the concerns of the work, to create an experience that is both visceral and intellectual. To accomplish this, she incorporates a broad range of media, and often engages all the senses. Sites have included a former Cold War missile base in the United States, a 15th century Turkish bath in Macedonia, an aluminum factory in Argentina, and the site of the Spanish landing in the Philippines.

International festivals in which Arsem has participated in the past three years include Asiatopia 10th Performance Art Festival in Thailand; 7a*11d Festival of Performance Art in Canada; ZAZ 08 International Performance Art Festival in Israel; the National Review of Live Art in Scotland; Vancouver LIVE Biennial in Canada; PerfoPuerto's Ensemble of Women in Chile; the DaDao Live Art Festival in China; the International Festival ‘In the Context of Art/The Difference,’ in Poland; the 14th Performance Art Conference in Vietnam; the Acción!06MAD Festival in Spain; and the Là-bas: Peak Performance? International Festival in Finland.

She is the recipient of numerous grants, including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and an LEF Foundation award. Arsem has also been awarded multiple residencies at The MacDowell Colony, other US art colonies, as well international residencies and exchanges.

Arsem received her BFA from Boston University in 1973. She is a member of Mobius, Inc., an interdisciplinary collaborative of artists, which she founded in 1977.