Headlands Center for the Arts

Artist Statement

I’m an artist who creates temporary communities through audience-led participatory events that focus on ideas of identity and race. I believe that these events should be playful experiences that allow everyone to get involved. The work involves the audience in order to create a unique experience, providing a space that enables discussion centered around each individual’s interpretation of the performance. This stems from an interest in abolishing the performer/audience hierarchy that frequently occurs within theater.

Having graduated from the University of Chichester with an MA in Performance, I am now an Associate Artist at Camden People’s Theatre, UK. In 2015 I was one of SPILL Festival’s National Showcase Artists (The Privileged) and was a recipient of the 2016 Spring Commission (Word). 2017 saw The Privileged be a part of California Institute of Integral Studies’ N.E.W Festival Showcase and receive ONCA’s Green Curtain Award during Brighton Fringe.

While at Headlands

I will be spending my time at Headlands doing two things. The first involves me exploring the difference between appreciation and appropriation—a thin line that many have crossed both knowingly and unknowingly. I will be exploring this in order to eventually create a new piece that focuses on having a frank and open conversation about a subject that is generally avoided. The second involves me focusing on generating alternative ways of communicating with audience members during a performance. In both of my previous pieces, I have provided participants with a number of written instructions to help progress the piece and to give audience members ownership of the work. My goal is to be more creative and explorative with methods of communicating with audience, finding new ways to achieve these same goals.