Through interrelated experiments in writing, video, sound, and movement, this research investigates the intersections of intimacy, ecology, and performance. Integrating an autoethnographic approach to gender and sexuality with creative practice and theoretical inquiry, this layered investigation offers implications that are both deeply personal and widely accessible. I am using my own experiences growing up as a queer child to generative corporeal and experience-based material, while also incorporating the ideas of current queer and gender theorists to frame my own research within the larger context of feminist studies. This research culminated into an evening length performance at Dogtown Dance Theatre on April 4th, 2014. The performance is currently being scheduled for future presentations in multiple venues.

This text is an exploration of the ideas and work that I made in 2014.

A series of digitally inflected texts – September that never ends, some French belles, 1950/1986/1996, Ted Turner, being SO FUCKING FUTURE, The Gilmore Girls, Fic, FanFic, Sapphic, ctrl-c/v, “falsehood”, memes, Robert Gober, INTP, thought control, a “line of flight”, speed, and light refracting on all of it

According to Walter Murch, sound designer, “The clearest example of encoded sound is speech. The clearest example of embodied sound is music.” In image, object and performance I have been exploring the embodiment of the encoded through the graphic representation of symbols (illustrate), the manifestation of symbols through material construction (embody), the activation of symbolized meaning though performance (enact), and the dematerialization of form and democratic dispersal of information through shared experience (engage). This methodological approach aims to transform metaphysics into physical being as a mode for researching energetics and abstract communication by bringing theory into practice where it can be tested for truth.

My faith is an important factor in my art making. I believe the ability to create is endowed by an original Creator. My work continues this initial creative legacy while confronting viewers with a storyline of beauty, truth, justice, and redemption. I am a realist oil painter devoted to portraiture and figurative work. Human form, gesture, and facial expression provide inexhaustible subject matter. I depict narratives from antiquity to the present day. Some of my paintings contain spiritual elements based on biblical writings presented in a contemporary context. I work from photos that I take of family, friends, and strangers from all walks of life. I often digitally reorganize the imagery to create the most effective composition in telling a story. Extreme contrast of light and dark is a crucial component of my current work. With it, I explore the dichotomy of revelation versus concealment. I also create pottery intentionally rooted in utilitarian traditions. I work with wheel- thrown and hand-built stoneware and I decorate it with a basic glaze palette. I appreciate how handmade ceramics add an organic, creative touch to everyday objects, as opposed to the inorganic and impersonal nature of mass produced ware. Furthermore, each unique vessel is a manifestation of the endowed gift of creativity interconnecting Creator, artist, and consumer.

I remember being young and being told that birds had special pads on their feet which prevent them from getting electrocuted when they sit on electrical lines. I was told on a different occasion not to put my finger into electrical sockets, so, one day I tried a key. I do not have special pads on my hands. In middle school science class I explained the fascinating pad theory to my class only to find out that I was wrong, and if I aim to be so serious sometimes, perhaps I could at least be funny.

Where does the story begin and what are the different chapters? What forest is she traveling through and where does she store her baggage? Where are the doors that she needs to open and why must this path, follow her like a shadow? What does she shelter and what does she let sit out in the rain? What does she allow to fracture and will a wall be broken? Is she searching for something that can be found and did she leave enough breadcrumbs to find her way back?

I did not become a farmer or railroader like generations of my family before me–but I continue to rely on my hands and physical labor. The use of my hands as tools to construct through woodworking and metal fabrication techniques becomes a musing action. Using wood and metal as materials, I develop structures in an exploratory way to frame the endless process of making. When I lose myself in this progression of forms, I allow myself to breathe.

This Paper is about the intertwining and swiveling narratives that made up the conceptual building blocks of my work process during the production of the piece: Standoff. This is not a description of the physical tasks that were undertaken in the production process, nor is it a recipe for extracting the ingredients that form the intricate relationships within the sculpture, but rather it is a collection of stories that are told through a zigzagged structure in an attempt to mirror the distorted hierarchies between fantasy and fact, history and imagination, truth and speculation.

The public school system in America has slowly phased music education out of most students curriculum. Cutting these programs help schools manage their fiscal budget and also keep students in the classroom longer in hopes that the extra time will produce better test scores. In recent years studies have shown that cutting music programs might not be in the best interest of students, or schools working for better test scores. One such study published in Social Science Quarterly, suggests that “students who participate in music are positively associated with academic achievement, especially during the high school years.” If this study is true, and there is overwhelming evidence that music education helps with academic achievement in other disciplines, then why are our public schools still insisting on cutting music programs? Why are schools not offering alternatives to music education? I plan to investigate a solution to this problem by designing an after school program for families who see the value in musical education, and who want their student/s to actively participate in music. The location for this after school program will be at what is now Bethlehem Lutheran Church, in the FAN district of Richmond, Va. at the corner of Ryland Ave. and Grace St. Architecturally the shell of the space is Neo-Gothic. The interior of the sanctuary adheres to the same style while the attached 3 floor rear office space offers little interior architectural references to that style. The office space has the potential to be redesigned to suit the needs of the program while introducing an architectural relationship with the sanctuary. The potential architectural relationship will be defined by the exploration of the concept “individual” versus “group”. This concept will additionally explore the notion of individual parts acting alone or working in conjunction with one another to operate as a whole. These drivers will help guide the design as it relates to music.