Momentum

It has already been a few months of working on this project with the Women*s Circus. Momentum is the brainchild of Devon Taylor, bringing together an ensemble cast of diverse abilities. It will be performed as a part of the Art Centre Metro Train Tunnel Project.

It has been a journey of working with artists in completely different ways, as we piece together the project as we explore…I have been working with many different aspects of Circus- harness aerial work, movement, choreography, as well as workshops lead by diverse artists.

I had the unique opportunity to explore how choreographed dance can work with my body and movements, playing with timing and pace, to integrate with the group. This has been really exciting.

It will be an outdoor event, later this year.

Musical Instrument Project

Recently, we were successful in our bid to secure a funding grant for a new and exciting project… to create a musical instrument which I will wear and interact with using movement.

I am working with a team of amazingly knowledgeable researchers and academics, including Dr. Anthea Skinner and Dr. Alon Ilsar, with Libby Price as my sidekick. We are planning to present a discussion paper, hopefully with video, at a conference in December.

It will kick off in August so watch this space!

Just a word?

Those who know me well, know me for my use of words and terminology I prefer. The one word I wish would disappear and never be returned ever, is Carer. I realise it has a purpose in a child’s relationship with parents and people caring for them. But when the word Carer replaces support worker and personal assistant in the life of an adult who lives with a Disability – it makes me cringe and feel like I am not capable of caring for myself. I know it is just a word, but words have big impacts. I also think the term is equally important to the person/s employed or volunteering to support me. This person is invaluable and such an huge part of my day to day life – I so love them to know they are support staff with professionalism and their title is worthy to their employer and the community. I know I can’t change the world and it might be just my opinion of the word – though I hope people can begin to understand my passion to see it not be used to describe the person/s supporting me…

Knees and Shrubs

I am excited to finally be able to share with you all that my latest work ‘Knees and Shrubs’ will be appearing in another festival. From 22- 25th April Knees and Shrubs will be showing as part of Midsumma festival’s event A Strange Space.

Recently I was invited by Burrinja CEO Gareth Hart to participate in a Burrinja Cultural Art’s Centre film festival ‘Body as is; Place’. This theme inspired me to explore movement and nature on a friends property in Silvan. The film was situated beneath two Oak trees which are estimated to be at least 150 years old.

After the screening event at Burrinja, I was invited with the other artists participating to join an open panel and answer questions from the audience about the making of the film.

View Knees and Shrubs for free at the below links between 22-25th April

A Strange Space website  

https://www.centreforprojectionart.com.au/a-strange-space

Midsumma Festival website 

https://midsumma.org.au/whats-on/events/a-strange-space/

Isolation 2020

Well… 2020 is turning out to bring some interesting times into our homes, and lives… I am now into week 9 of stay-at-home, and self isolating myself from my friends, family and many of my work and creative dudes and mates. The only people I see on a regular basis are my support team who help me to eat, live and play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz5Iydl4gNEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz5Iydl4gNE

So what have I been doing do survive the 2020 pandemic period?

Practising my camera techniques, studying video editing and making short fun films – that i keep posting for my followers and friends, in the light of the moment, it helps to lift my spirit and i hope it does, theirs.

My creative juices are flowing beautifully at this time – without one hint of boredom, I am filled with images to paint, draw and write – I seriously don’t know how to stop!  

I am eager to dance, even in small spaces and find myself leaping out of corners, looking through creaks in my back porch, hanging over the fence, falling into an empty space/s – tapping into emotions, sometimes strange echos of people’s voices come from nearby… making other shifts of movement in my “dance” w/chair only to hear my own laughter tickle me hysterically …  

I also find time spaces to be wild, free, explore my inner being that wants to explode, bust the bubbles – and I am so enjoying the self permission to let go, completely let go, to delve deeper into my creative mind.

Mindfulness Scripts

I have been writing Mindfulness scripts for about 12 months now and using them to run my Mindfulness sessions for some of the students I work with.  I started doing these by using ready-made scripts from the internet, but realised these were pretty limited for students with a disability. So this inspired me to write my own.  

I wanted to explore with my imagination and bring to life what any student, including one with a disability could relate to.  The responses from students and parents have been very positive, particularly in terms of feeling relax and comfortable in their body. Also many have said, they recall the images throughout their day when things get tough and it helps to soothe things to a better mindset ..

Enjoy the meditation.

This is another little experiment I did this week, using visual effects and my artwork in the mix.

"Life is being and doing…"

Well, my last post was April, really? It has been a busy few months of speaking engagements, writing for presentations, mentoring a number of gorgeous individuals and so for…  But, also there has been some wonderful explorations at the Women’s circus and of course my camera learning and editing some of my work is beginning to shape.

In the last 2 or 3 months i have also been focussing on my artwork – i am working specifically on animals at the moment.  I have included my “sketches” for you to see how I begin to shape then let  the work take it place…