Installed and performed as part of the “Vibrant Matter: Brilliant Fire” group show at Wonzimer gallery, curated by Gary Brewer.
INTERSECTION 2021 – present, is a site-specific project dedicated to exploring the interconnectivity of painting, sound, dance, and film. The goal is to construct a non-hierarchical entwinement of these traditionally separate mediums. The entwinement prioritizes sensation, embodiment, and synesthesia. The artists rely on improvisation, play, and dialoguing, building a tactile intertwining of one’s physical being with the spatio-temporal fabric in which one exists. The project began during the Covid pandemic in collaboration with dancer and choreographer Emma Portner, and the first performance took place at the Benton Museum of Art in Claremont, CA on May 3rd, 2022
The most recent iteration of the live performance took place on April 27, 2024, at Wonzimer gallery in Los Angeles. During this entirely improvisational performance movement artists Friidom Dunn and Gretchen Ackerman moved in response to the paintings while immersed in the sonic scape being built in real time by Matt McGarvey. This performance involved my tapestry paintings Kukeri: Moth and Trembling Sun, which were also part of the “Vibrant Matter: Brilliant Fire” group show curated by Gary Brewer .
Through various modes of attention and response, INTERSECTION seeks induce moments of connection, collaboration, and play. After the performance at Wonzimer, someone asked Friidom if it was choreographed or improvisational. His was a complicated answer. In his mind, when you have trained and moved a certain way for many years you bring that knowledge to every encounter. Improvisation is the entwinement of prior knowledge with the intelligence of matter (of any form) in real time. I witness and film the interface between the dancer and the painting as they become one entity. In that oneness both are transformed.
"Kukeri: Moth" and "Trembling Sun" as seen and filmed by beloved painter Deitra Charles.
I made these tapestry paintings a year ago in response to Friidom and Gretchen's individual quality of movement and comportment. In the fall of 2023, I installed the paintings in Elysian Park at an abandoned volleyball court and invited them on two separate occasions to interact with their respective tapestry while hearing tracks composed by Matt McGarvey. [note: Link to these two films, as well as films that feature other performers among them Emma Portner and Matthew ET Gibbs]
Read and see more about INTERSECTION at my website