Artist as Choreographer

I have always approached drawing as invention. As a child it was an act of simultaneous anxiety and catharsis, because I believed that by drawing, I was creating real worlds; people who, if left without food on the page, would have nothing to eat. Every figure I drew needed an identity: A name, an age, clothing to wear, and a home. The more I drew, the more fascinated I became with the movement of bodies. I liked to fill an entire page with people, in different positions. I would show my Mom and ask, “Is this possible? Can a figure move like this?” Although I took ballet classes and went to circus camp, I was far more interested in using drawing as a way to understand movement.

I am interested in the movement of the body and how we both express and contain emotion in our bodies. In my figurative work I explore how we carry history, memories, traumas, dreams, and the way they manifest in our movement. Depicting landscapes from my memories and imagination, I think of drawing as choreography. Where will each figure stand, what is the dynamic between them all, and who will perform which role? This was how my transition from painting to textiles began- I saw textiles as a way to bring my figures to life.

While figures remain still on flat paper, printing them onto fabric gives them movement and presence. Employing painting as a form of choreography, figures dance in a realm somewhere between memories and dreams.

My love of movement and drawing has led me to appreciate collaborations between artists who venture into other fields, such as performance. I am very inspired by the history of The Ballet Russe, a ballet company formed by Sergei Diaghilev in 1909. Artists such as Picasso and Matisse collaborated with the Ballet Russe, creating a synthesis between painting and movement. Matisse first experimented with his signature use of paper cut-outs while designing for a Ballet Russe production, and Picasso was undoubtedly influenced by the bold simple shapes he created for sets, moving more towards Cubism in his paintings. This practice of collaboration and experimentation to create something radically new is a source of inspiration for me. As an artist, I enjoy building worlds, allowing once stationary drawings to move and dance with each figure taking on a life of its own.