Vestments
I implement vestments to invoke a somatic, bodily awareness, recognizing the body as a common ground for engaging with our surroundings. My wearables function as models and tools to tap into the lived, physical participation in this world, externalizing the personal interior through stylized forms which, in turn, evoke connections to other forms of life. Objects which simulate cocoons, exoskeletons, wings and tentacles, provide an immediate sense of transformation into another kind of being. Wearers experience containment, elongation, extra appendages, and limited visibility, appreciating their own mobility as humans yet also becoming aware of the abilities of others.
Image Control
Stay Gallery was home to a month-long installation of wearable sculptures activated by performers on the opening night. Several objects were used as sites of connectivity, uniting performers in a common activity. Scrolls of used photo-booth film were braided and transformed into an umbilical cord spanning the gallery. Individual movements developed based on the limitations and extensions available by each unique wearable piece.
Stay Gallery, Downey, CA
October 2018
Enactment Studies
I utilize video as a stepping stone in the process of digestion and generation of future material. The record of movement presents opportunities to see myself and others through the filter of a particular placement and framing of composition. Video documentation of the wearables in action is an opportunity to explore interpretations and develop new images and narratives. The wearables constrain and guide movement and self-perception without any verbal preamble, bypassing the limitations of spoken language. The collaboration between the initial static object and the wearer supplies an infinite array of variations and enactments.
video/color/sound, 6 min 7 seconds
2016