As a teacher, I strive to develop genre-defying curriculums that are just as academically challenging as they are artistically inspiring.
Whether coursework or workshop facilitation, I aim to explore the inbetweeness of visual art and performance as ways to investigate complex societal issues, examine diverse perspectives on seeing, thinking, and making, and build both individual and collective curiosity.
Passionate areas of my teaching include: devised theatre-making, experimental design, queer studies, performance studies, monster theory, sculpture and installation art, and digital illustration.
Workshop Facilitation
DISSECTING MOVEMENT
This workshop is designed to explore devised theatre making and movement creation. Through a series of textual prompts participants each create a series of interpretative gestures which are then used as a physical vocabulary to develop choreography (solo, duet, and group). Using a series of applied performance tools and techniques these choregraphies are then developed, evolved, and transformed into short staged performances shared during the workshop. Weaving vocal and physical work without the use of a script, participants build a stronger understanding of how to develop and devise theatre work without knowing their final result and are asked to focus on creative risk taking and collaborative team building rather than product-based rehearsal processes. Participants will leave the workshop with a series of tools and techniques which can then be used to produce new choregraphies in rehearsal, interpret and investigate text and character, and a new perspective on physical language for theatrical world building.
DURATION — 1-2 hours
No. Of Participants — 4 to 30
Experience — None required
Requirements — Active apparel—clothes you can move in, water bottle, non-slip shoes or barefoot
DESIGNING MONSTERS
This workshop explores the conceptualization and visualization of the process of costume and set design as the construction of monsters. After an introductory lecture on monster theory and its application to the design process, the artist leads a series of interactive exercises with the participants to explore the creation of their own monsters. Looking at both historical and theoretical examples, the idea of the monster as a design body is dissected, investigated, and transformed. Participants are asked to critique and evaluate their own ways of seeing, drawing, and making—including reinterpreting silhouette, use of pattern, and incorporating non-traditional materials. Participants will leave the workshop with a critical new perspective on how we, as designers, can examine body and form and how using a ‘monstrous lens’ can reveal unexplored areas of reimagining the human body in performance.
DURATION — 30 min lecture followed by 30-45 min exercises and followed by optional debrief discussion
No. Of Participants — 2 to 30
Experience — Knowledge of basic costume and set design process is ideal but not required
Requirements — Paper / sketchbook, material to draw / sketch with—*Not required, but individual access to examples of past projects, sketches, or portfolios is ideal
CALCULATING CHAOS
This workshop explores—or explodes—the popular use of a ‘carbon footprint calculator’ through a series of critical and performative exercises. With the growing public discussion on ecological devastation and our individual affect in the destruction of the Earth, this workshop examines to what extent our own actions—and inactions—can be calculated, evaluated, and numbered. Part experimental performance-lecture / part apocalyptic thought experiment, the workshop forces participants to ask daring and difficult questions about the impact of their actions on the environment—and each other. This workshop is designed specifically towards an audience / participants as artists, but is adaptable to participants of any discipline or experience. Offered as a critical discussion centred workshop activity, participants will leave the process with more questions than answers, more chaos than calculation, and more scrutiny than salvation.
DURATION — Approx 1 hour, followed by optional debrief discussion
No. Of Participants — 4 to 50
Experience — None required
Requirements — Paper, something to write with, a calculator or equivalent phone app
Interested in Hosting a Workshop?
For more information or availability please send me a message with your name, affiliation, and workshop interest along with any questions.
*Workshops can also be adapted to meet various needs, demographics, and requirements, please do not hesitate to reach out.
