VIDEO ART
PEACE & WAR exhibition series:
overseas, single channel video, 03:57
peacewarwarpeace, single channel video, 01:00
blue, single channel video, 01:16
Peace. The color blue. The ocean. The sky. Breath. Movement. Music.
Looking to the sky I can breathe and so I use blue to show all the breath, all the air, all calmness, and stillness. I use this word in my work through the blue sky, through the movement of a dancer emanating a feeling that can’t always be expressed with words. There is no pressure. There is music, lots of music.
War. 3 deployments. The color red. Guns. Overthinking. Holding in breath.
War is something maybe not first recognizable, but overseas we fight daily and all around us wars are fought internally. I use dancers linked together to show the efforts of our struggle, the efforts of bodies on the battlefield leaning on each other, physically present while emotionally so far away. The paint represents the work they have done, the work left behind, and the work that will forever remain in their minds.
I am exploring how to give these words movement. Together they form a space in between where they begin to move not alone but together, reacting and bleeding into each other. I can see where that line blurs: what is war without peace? What is peace without war? This is the in between.
I am finding depth and movement in these questions asked.
What is peace?
What is war?
What is peace without war?
What is war without peace?
Moving differently but together.
Fire Dance, single channel video using found & personal footage, 04:22
California was engulfed in flames. This work is in response to the time period of the Woosley Fire in November 2018. I was living on campus in Malibu, but that Thursday I left for Downtown LA to attend a conference, when arriving in Downtown, the news started flaring up with evacuation warnings and images of the fire engulfing land quickly. Leaving campus meant I wouldn't be allowed back on. All my information on the status of the fire was coming from social media, friends still on campus, and the local news stations. There was a disconnect and uncertainty. Classes in person were cancelled and we went online. My trip to Haiti happened to be at the same time. My passport was back on campus, the one place I could not return to.
After the craziness of having to get an emergency passport I was on my flight to Port Au Prince. We spent a week at an orphanage, painting murals, teaching art lessons, dancing, and learning.
While this period of time was different for each person, my experience was that of hope.
From the ashes we dance.
OH BROTHER, single channel video, 06:11
DRAFT PICKS, single channel video, 04:38
So Are We, single channel video, 19:07
In an effort to make a piece all about my dad, I made a piece about my mom. We often hear about deployments from the service persons point of view. But it is more unusual, I’m finding, to hear about the other half of those affected. Like the families. This piece is a glimpse into the other end of service, the kinds of conversations my mom and I have every day. It’s a glimpse of our ever day. This is a voice I get to hear often, but others don't, and while I’m still finding mine, here is the one that raised me.
B&W, moving photo; 00:32
STW1, moving photo; 00:44
RAW, DANCE IN FLIGHT, Documentary, 01:30:00
Creative directed and edited a 90-min doc compiling movement, choreographed dances, and interviews all shot at home during the pandemic.