About
I am a multimedia artist, filmmaker, organizer, and educator. The seed of my practice grew from documentary film and a passion for social justice, became rooted in live performance, and then blossomed in the possibilities of creative technology. My creative work combines image, story, science, and civic engagement. The central focus of my research and analysis is ethics, particularly as it relates to design live arts. My goal is to utilize all my artistic tools to reveal truths and amplify voices that can open hearts and minds in the pursuit of justice for all living things. I am grateful to be in community and constant collaboration with Steve Broadnax III, Ping Chong, Ty Defoe, Kamilah Forbes, Lux Haac, Porsche McGovern, Liza Jessie Peterson, Talvin Wilks, and Tamilla Woodard.
Select Organizations and Collectives:
All My Relations Collective (Core Collaborator), The TEAM (TEAM Artist), UT Austin (Director of MFA Emphasis in Integrated Media), Wingspace Theatrical Design, USITT (Digital Media Commission), USA829 (Projection Design Committee Co-Chair)
As a multimedia designer for live performance I bend light into imagery that was previously unseen. My generative tools are images, footage, primary documents, motion graphics, text, illustrations, animations, code, sensors, cameras, and archival materials. I wield the power to make statements on a monumental scale; using projections, architecture, and wonder. I do not take the responsibility that comes with this power lightly. My process is rooted in the constant consideration of impact. I do not separate my work as a designer from my work as an educator, learner, or advocate. They are interconnected. They are all pointed towards liberation.
I do this work for past and future ancestors and for the natural world. This is my choice and responsibility not only as an artist, but as a white / cis / queer woman socialized to believe that anything is possible for me in the world if I only work hard enough. My values are integral to who I am.
I value honesty, respect, accountability, generosity, reciprocity, collaboration, justice, the natural world, ritual, and growth.
The repatriation of land and lifeways to the Indigenous people of this land is critical for liberation.
Nothing is neutral.
White supremacy is the poison that attacks all living things, primarily the Earth, indigenous people, black bodies, brown bodies, disabled bodies, and queer bodies.
Capitalism is a tool of colonization.
Our collective liberation is intertwined.
Rigorous learning and experimentation infused with joy is at the heart of my approach as an educator. I employ a multi-pronged strategy for culture shift through facilitation of social justice conversations, professorship, and mentorship. I strive to embody my values in my classrooms, emphasizing a culture of respect, consent, intentionality, interdisciplinarity, individuality, and accountability. I believe in an open source approach to information sharing and co-learning.
A major part of my service work includes sharing my research with the wider community through writing. From 2021 - 2022 I curated and published two essays (Seeding Change, Design with an Equity Lens) as a part of the Howlround Theatre Commons series Design (in a Time of Reckoning). The series explored what it would mean to have a culture of justice in theatrical design, aiming to build a deeper understanding of what change work is being done, the social position of designers in the larger theatre industrial complex, and strategies for co-creating a roadmap to a more liberated future. I am currently working on a book project titled Design Paradigm: Cultivating an Ethical Live Design Praxis, which strives to build a deeper understanding around the impact of structural oppression on the field of design for live performance: on ourselves, our communities, and our processes; and then turn that understanding into a more intentional, ethical praxis. I propose a paradigm shift for live performance, provide a space to create a framework that dismantles basic assumptions, and suggest a methodology to be adapted by members of the design community. This is a new design paradigm of justice and inclusion. It is an offering and an invitation to turn analysis into action.
