Artist Statement 

I am an interdisciplinary theatremaker fascinated by the poetry of true life, both the loud dramatic irony and the subtle imagery of the quotidian. My work centers transcultural and international exchange, and I often serve as a director, performer, choreographer, and producer, with a focus on creating accessible spaces for creativity where applied theatre can support community-building and mutual aid. 

I employ music, choreography, a combination of written and improvisational text, audience participation, and post-show community artmaking in my work. My pieces are rigorously honest. I love to awaken through comedy-turned-sudden-drama, implicating us as we locate the discomfort driving our laughter. I seek to galvanizing through introspection, with the throughline of my work residing in the question I return to with each new project:

“How can we reclaim our innate curiosity toward ourselves and each other?”

My work challenges Western morality frameworks of isolation, shame, and poetic justice by examining the beauty embedded in our lived experiences. I am more concerned with what is real than what is “right” when the fear of being wrong is one of our greatest barriers toward co-liberation. Artistic spaces across identity boundaries can provide a container and mirror to expand our understanding of beauty and allow unexpected solidarities to emerge. When we feel awe for each other, we learn to trust our capacity to sit with complexity. We reconnect to the version of ourselves worth fighting for even in our fractured states.

My pieces draw from:

• Behavioral theory of Western theatre models (Every behavior is justified.)

• International arts education methods from partnerships and research in Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, Jordan, Palestine, Colombia and Cuba

• Improvisational theatre and music genres 

• Theatre of the Oppressed

• The colonial project effectively training me to question the legitimacy of all my thoughts, actions and instincts as a queer, multiracial, Indigenous woman of color. In learning to split the difference between self-doubt and self-inflation, I have come to find communal art the most incisive tool to reveal our blind spots.

Much of my work amplifies youth voices and belonging-centered early education. I subscribe to the belief that the most effective form of activism is to invest in a world that one day won’t need it so badly. I strive to make art that welcomes all ages, initiates conversations across gaps of life experience, and affirms the quiet creative’s hope that their story has a home in all of us.