Embodiment (2023)
“Brush and body become one. Ink follows my movement as intuition leads me to a meditative state.”
Movement from April 16 (2023) Performance & Sumi Ink on Mixed Media Paper
7 x 7 ft
Photos by Favio Guzman
Curving forms, a sketch-like quality, and a playful sense of immediacy unite my multi-media installation. Beginning with the core intuitive motions, simple forms, and mindfulness of contemporary dance, my body acts as a record of time and place. A stage of off-white paper is placed atop a 10ft x 10ft platform with an arrangement of calligraphy brushes and glass jars filled with black Sumi ink beside it. I then perform improvisational movements atop the paper. While performing, I feel an intense presence within my body and surroundings.
The ground and my body work together in conversation, creating bold sweeping lines. As my body contracts, expands, spirals, and falls, an array of marks accumulates. The brushstrokes character varies greatly as the ink glides, smears, and splatters. After my performance, the drawing and platform remain to embody my movement.
Embodiment (2023)
Steel
16 x 16 x 16 ft
Photos by Favio Guzman
Suspended above the platform hangs a fragment of my gestural marks in a dynamic metal sculpture. The steel rod echoes repeating shapes and patterns found in my performative ink drawings. A glossary of lines was created from these motions my body tends to find comfort in and return to. Using this visual language, the gestural marks have further abstracted and documented my presence. The suspended work contrasts the drawing’s grounded creation. By manipulating the stiff heavy steel, a weightless reiteration of my marks transforms the space. As the viewer moves around the work, they engage with multiple fragments of my body’s memory.
