Mica Sigourney
Artist Statement
I am a conceptual artist focused on performance, social art and community building. My works manifest as either traditional stage performances or participatory events and happenings which show in theaters, nightclubs, drag bars, museums and public places such as parks, public transport, and store fronts. At my events, I create celebratory spaces where participants have the potential to become activators of the space and instigators of moments.
My performances explore the tension between spectacle and vulnerability, paralleling my disparate training modalities. For the past five years, I’ve made new drag performances weekly; the costuming, lip-synching and physical affectation I utilize in drag arts contrasts with my training as an actor, which focused on minimal constructs, rigorous authenticity, and connection to impulse and improvisation techniques. While drag values spectacle, my theater training demands authenticity. This blending of these contrasting approaches and values has strengthened my artistic practice, both as a director and performer.
While At Headlands
I am creating a solo that carefully explores the white performance body on stage as a sight of oppressor. White bodies do not suffer from state violence and instead benefit from the power structures of historical and institutionalized racism. This has many implications in the world of contemporary performance. While many white soloists present their bodies as neutral zones, I want to expose the white body in performance as loaded with power through the layering of autobiographical text with contemporary dance as well as theoretical texts and references. The content is heavy and heady and I will rely on previous drag sensibilities that employ, humor camp, directness, and visual opulence as a point of entry to challenging topics for audiences of mixed races. This piece seeks to expose the structures that keep white people safe and protected in America, while exploiting and disempowering people of color.
Selected Video
Work MORE Tour Trailer from OX on Vimeo.
Masterwork Reel from OX on Vimeo.
