I am an artist and performer interested in the potential of new technologies to either perpetuate or dismantle racial and other types of domination and subordination. I am also interested in new forms of epistemology, pedagogy, methods in social advocacy, and transformative artworks.
I completed the MFA program in Digital Arts and New Media as part of the Socially-Engaged Art project group at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In this environment I was able to expand my skill-set and experiment with different technologies and media.
My work is concerned with human emotion, frailty, commonality, and diversity of experience, sometimes exploring these topics in ways that combine fun and comedy with the macabre or absurd. I am also interested in the ways people share with one another-- in person, and virtually, and how these different modes of sharing dictate the way we share or refrain from sharing.
My work has generally leaned toward bringing to the forefront my own experiences and those who are not typically addressed in the mainstream media. My artistic interests are quite varied. Most of my technical experience is in photography and video production, but I began my art practice with a foundation in musical and theatrical performance. Most recently, I have ventured into video game technology as an expressive medium.
Code-Switching: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8g22h89x
Abstract:
Code-Switching is an interactive film and game space that uses elements of deeply personal narrative and historical symbolism to illustrate the dynamics of how racism communicates through our actions and language, our systemic and institutional complicity with racism, and how one might negotiate with racism for survival. It is not meant to address a white audience, but is meant to de-center, de-legitimize, and problematize the concept of whiteness itself in a society that clings to racist values and policy.
Using dark humor, I address several issues within this work: the racism and sexism I endured from my white father, our society’s inability to acknowledge the stories of black sexual assault survivors, the potential of networked technology and data to accelerate systematic oppression through unrelenting automated surveillance, white fragility, the consequences of resisting racist notions in conversation, and the pressure to perform an acceptable blackness for survival.
2019 UCSC Games Showcase- Social Impact Award for the project Code-Switching