APRIL 1-4 | "HELLO, WORLD!" AT THE I.D.E.A. MUSEUM!
[nue]box seed residency performance
I am excited to announce an upcoming performance of DON G, co-produced with Melanie Holm as part of a SEED residency through [Nue]Box in Phoenix, AZ on September 4, 2021!
featuring
ONOH | media design, live projection controlled with TouchDesigner
Melanie Holm | soprano voice, musical arrangement, choreographer
& Adele Etheridge Woodson | violin performance
Produced in part through the generous support of Dr. Daniel Bernard Roumain
"SECRET KNOTS II" DEBUT WITH DBR LAB II
DBR LAB PERFORMANCE: SECRET KNOTS @ KERR CENTER
Composer and Educator Dr. Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) presents the third cohort of DBR Lab – a project-based learning experience where contributors develop individual projects for presentation on national stages (and screens). For the Fall 2020 semester, DBR is joined by co-facilitators Jeff McMahon and DBR Lab alumna, Lady Caress. Join us for seven preview performances followed by a prerecorded post-performance discussion. Project presentations include film, dance, opera, digital media and theatre. Produced by Malena Grosz, DBR Lab Manager and alumna. Presented in partnership with ASU Kerr and ASU Gammage.
'Secret Knots' explores networked performance using OSC, musical synthesis and live interactive visuals. This piece, though still in process, is a strong representation of my current research interests at ASU, namely how to create or express in a performance environment where the computer is the central collaborator. This work will be shown alongside all artists in DBR LAB, facilitated by Daniel Roumain (DBR), and hosted by ASU Cultural Kerr Center tomorrow night on YouTube. I'm so excited to celebrate the work of my fellow lab contributors after a semester of hard work, and hope you will join us! I owe a huge amount of gratitude to Dr. Garth Paine for his instruction and encouragement; to the developers of HB Ollie Bown, Sam Ferguson and Angelo Fraietta; to Xavier Nokes for designing the OSC device and sharing their hardware and Ri Lindegren for filming the documentation!
First Friday @ Phoenix Art Museum
I am very excited to share that I will have a short animation included in a special Advanced Media Design showcase hosted by the Phoenix Art Museum! “Solve This Riddle: What Is Modern But Never Sick, and Always Round But Never Infinite?” is an animation in three parts inspired by the bizarre and inventive tweets authored by @MagicRealismBot, an AI chatbot developed by Chris and Ali Rodley. Tune in on May 1 at 7:30pm to see the show!
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New works from Arizona State University’s Advanced Media Design and Media Design Application courses
ASU Artists working with media for live and time-based spaces present a series of new media-based performance and installation works. Utilizing emergent technologies, projects will explore being and nothingness, Hip Hop dance with a backdrop of Ryukyuan History, El Ombligo: the scar of birth, the untapped potential of spinal movement, A.I. chatbots as performance collaborators, projection-mapped board games, and animated storytelling.
Artists include Michael Fitzsimons, Tyler Harris, ONOH, Delia Ibanez, Ri Lindegren, Glenna Negron, David Novoa, and Treyvon Thompson.
Behind the Scenes: The Snow
Thank you the cast and crew of The Snow for a phenomenal experience and for an even better opening night! I loved every moment of this ride and learned so much along the way. As a designer this show pushed me well out of my comfort zone, and reminded me that it is in these sorts of spaces that we can surprise ourselves with our imaginative solutions. Thank you to Claire Redfield, our brilliant director, for leading us to your vision of this show, and what the world could look like if we worked together to solve seemingly intractable problems, especially if we listen to even the smallest of us. THE MOST SPECIAL THANKS to my invaluable teammate and fellow designer Alli St.John - the world we created could not exist without your warmth, support, good humor and attention to detail. What doesn't end up on IG are the DAYS of trial and error, the feelings of being lost in our learning only to come out stronger once the solution reveals itself through constant process. This can be it's own Darkness, the only way out being through, together. I am so grateful to have gone through this with you, Alli!! Finally, thank you to the cast for your incredible talent! Your spirit is contagious and courageous, I belly laughed so much during our show and would see this show again and again and again if I could!
GRADUATE SCHOOL BOUND!
I am overjoyed to announce that that I have been accepted to Arizona State University’s Master of Fine Arts program in Theatre - Interdisciplinary Digital Media Performance Studies beginning this Fall.
ASU is the ideal space for me to integrate my skills as a technologist with my calling as a performer. While there, I’ll learn the computer engineering and stagecraft skills I’ll need to create the weird techno-performance art I haven’t even dreamed of yet. I’m incredibly eager, and excited to uncover the greater depths and complexities of my artistry.
My journey to graduate school was not one linear path; it began at 19 when I was began working as as an art model and is the cumulative result of all the adventures that were born out of this creative hobby. My journey required failure, struggle, hard work and a complete trust in the process as the price of admission for this next great adventure. You can learn more about my story by watching my Artist Inc Slide Slam here.
“But I smell the roses not just to remind myself of how lucky I am, but also to wonder how on earth it all happened. I smell the roses to try and figure out how I came to be in the garden at all.” - Alan Cumming
JUDY 2.0 @ CIDER GALLERY
One more show before I go! “Only Judy Can Judge Me” (2.0) has been included in Yuri Zupancic's 'AFTERNET: NEW WORKS BY YURI ZUPANCIC | GROUP EXHIBITION' exhibition at the Cider Gallery, starting this evening and through August 23! Tonight’s reception is my last art-related event in Lawrence before the Big Move to Tempe, so stop by and exchange fancy air kisses with me while scoping some great art.
XOXONOH
PERFORMING 'ENDLNG' @ OPEN EYE FIGURE THEATRE
I am so grateful for the opportunity to join Johanna Winters’ traveling company, performing her puppet performance work, ‘ENDLNG’ at the beautiful Open Eye Figure Theatre in Minneapolis, MN! According the artist, ENDLNG “proposes a narrative in which female desire and agency demand to be witnessed. Our protagonist confronts her burdensome longing and disappointment through a merging of puppetry, gesture, language, and ritual. Bolstered by her puppeteer minders as she resists a deteriorating condition, the ENDLNG glimpses a moment of intimacy and resilience through a shadow fever-dream.”
This 25 minute performance weaves marionette and shadow puppetry performance with elements of sound, text and narration. Myself, Alicia Kelly and Stevie Delgado work together performing as shadow puppeteers working together, while artist/writer/director Johanna Winters performs with her Endlng marionette puppet with assistance from fellow performer Alex Olson and narration by Emily Lund. Lexie Balaun is our trusted swing shadow puppeteer! Our company is small but mighty and swiftly becoming a crew of “Swingers” - performers that know not only their role, but sometimes multiple other parts and are ready to “swing” into action under any performance circumstance. I look forward to “swinging” into marionette assistance when we perform ENDLNG again at Plug Projects in Kansas City on July 19th!
ARTIST INC SLIDE SLAM NIGHT
I recently completed Artist Inc’s 8-week arts entrepreneurship program at the Lawrence Arts Center, where I gained deeper insights into business, legal and marketing strategies for my art practice. I’ve been waiting for three years to apply for this program, and I’m grateful to have received this knowledge at this juncture in my life. The Artist Inc program always culminates in an evening of Slide Slams - 15-slide presentations delivered in 5 minutes. I shared some never-before-seen childhood pics, spoke about my current interests as an art-weirdo, and finished with a grand announcement! It was a doozy bringing my storied journey as a creative into focus, and within such narrow parameters, but if there’s anything I know about creativity, it is that is likes constraints. Assembling my presentation helped me accept all my creative experiences over the past decade as a destined journey towards my calling…more on that calling in the video below :)
Thank you to my dear friends (and fellow creative powerhouses!) Johanna Winters and Amanda Pintore for supporting me, and special thank you to my fellow artist-amiga para siempre Blanca Herrada for recording my slide slam! The video starts about 15 seconds into my presentation, here’s the missing text for those who desire it:
“Thank you all for joining us this evening. My name is ONOH, I’m an interdisciplinary artist whose art takes many forms - video, digital collage, performance, puppetry, and most recently creative coding. I divide my interests between computer-powered art and body-centered craft. Here’s the story of how I arrived at this intersection, and the new path I’m currently forging.”
THE RUNAWAY ORCHESTRA @ LAWRENCE ARTS CENTER
🌇Where have I been? Galavanting through the Big City with the Runaway Orchestra! 🎶🎵 I'm having so much fun embodying the five mask characters - the Conductor 👴, Bird 🐦, Bus Driver 😤, Antique Dealer 👵, and the Bratty Child 😈 - giving each character their own gestures and quirks. Thank you Johanna Winters for guiding the puppet-making process and giving me so much personality to work with!! 🎼🎻🎶🌇🐣💡⛵🌆🏤🎵Catch 'The Runaway Orchestra' at the LAC for our final shows, tonight at 6pm and tomorrow at 2pm!
All photos by Marlo Angel
PRESS: KCUR.org
"Some of the work is gentle, such as Brittney Carter's 'True,' a charcoal and pastel drawing on wood. Other pieces are playful, but others are decidedly not playing, such as ONOH’s 'Only Judy Can Judge Me,' a stunning digital collage of images compiled from grandmaster paintings that depicts the Biblical figure of Judith beheading Holophernes."
Thank you Libby Hanssen for reviewing the show, and for generous write up! I have a deep affection for public radio, so to see my name and work mentioned in your article was a meaningful achievement.
Read Libby’s review of Who Does She Think She Is? on KCUR.org!
JUDY @ INTERURBAN ARTHOUSE
Who Does She Think She Is?
Interurban ArtHouse - May 15 - April 19
Presented by the UMKC Women’s Center and InterUrban ArtHouse, Who Does She Think She Is? showcases work by 50 women artists from the Kansas City metro area. I was delighted to be a part of this fantastic line up of women working across a myriad of disciplines.
This updated light-print (as I’m calling them) of “Only Judy Can Judge Me” will be on view and for sale throughout this month. Stop by at our closing reception on April 19!
TRUTH IN COMEDY @ BREAK ROOM
Feb. 16 | 8 PM – 10 PM
The Break Room, Topeka, KS
https://www.facebook.com/events/232361124361397/
So this is pretty cool -- I'll be the featured artist at Byron Stamps' Truth in Comedy tour stop this Saturday night at The Break Room in Topeka! Byron approached me about three weeks ago with a creative challenge: create three new pieces inspired by the deeply personal stories of three strangers (including fellow-Artist-Inc-Fellow, Amy Eff). This Saturday, the three speakers will share their stories live, followed by comedy sets, followed by a short minute artist talk by yours truly where I'll explain my processes and inspiration for each piece. I've made three special edition digital collages (1/1 folks!) for the occasion and I can't wait to share them this Saturday. Join us this Saturday for a very human night of confessions, comedy, and art.
DEA EX MACHINA (SOLO SHOW @ BOURGEOIS PIG)
JAN. 24 - FEB. 21, the BOURGEOIS PIG, Lawrence, KS
Digital collage on Lite film, LEDs, dimmers, Plexiglas and MDF frame
DEA EX MACHINA
de·a ex ma·chi·na | \ ˈdei-wā-ˌeks-ˈmä-ki-nə
(Latin: “goddess from the machine”) a person or thing that appears or is introduced into a situation suddenly and unexpectedly and provides an artificial or contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty.
CONTRIVED
con·trived | \ kən-ˈtrīvd
: having an unnatural or false appearance or quality :ARTIFICIAL, LABORED
“Dea Ex MACHINA: the Power of Women” is a digital collage series that references the biblical stories of Judith, Jael, Susannah, Delilah as well as the legend of Saint Irene and Saint Sebastian. Playfully, I search the Internet for copies of their likenesses (predominantly painted by wealthy, white, and male artists, save for the Holy works of Artemisia Gentileschi) before proceeding to slice, erase, and layer these images until the feminist gestures of these women are powerfully revitalized with new context. In this way, I turn to digital collage as a weapon of subversion.
Presenting these works, I reflect on my desire to explore art-making that is seemingly devoid of a human / Artist's touch. Each image here has been copied from the Internet, obliterated then remade in Photoshop, printed by machine on plastic paper, framed in Plexiglas and illuminated by electricity. I marvel at the manner in which my relationship to machines is not only wholly dependent, but also increasingly creative. W. Benjamin once famously asked, “What is art in the age if mechanical reproduction?”, to which I reply what is and can art making be the age if synthetic reproduction / imagery / reality?
RUNAWAY PUPPETS!
APRIL 5-7, Lawrence Arts center
When the opportunity calls to help create GIANT wearable puppet masks AND ALSO perform in the show they are intended for, I do not say no! For the next few weeks, I’m helping build puppet masks for a variety of original characters, under the design direction of Johanna Winters. Each week, my three other classmates and myself learn Johanna’s process of molding with chicken wire and masking tape (MASKING TAPE!). Having made exclusively with the papier-mache / cardboard processes I learned at Bread and Puppet, this is a new, lightweight process for working large. I’m having a lot of fun and look forward to working with the rest of the puppet team each Wednesday night!
As if building the masks wasn’t enough fun for me, Ric Averill has asked that I perform each mask role on stage this upcoming April, combining my experiences as a dancer & performer with my technical knowledge as a puppeteer. I really couldn’t be more excited about this performance! Tune in for progress shots as they come, and click here to learn more about this production.
JUDY @ ROOST STUDIOS
Judy's in NY! I am super excited to participate in CELEBRATI♀N, a multi-disciplinary arts showcase curated by Roost Studios in New Paltz, NY, an collective that organizes, recognizes, and celebrates womxn creatives. 'Only Judy Can Judge Me' will be on view daily until February 2, 2019 along with artworks by 60+ womxn artists. Check out @celebratewomxn845 's stories for an inside peak into their opening reception, including a performance by @qlurdeane, pictured in the embed post!
JAEL @ RUN RIOT
RUN RIOT: OCTOBER 19 - NOVEMBER 3
I have a very nicely framed print of “Jael” on view at Plug Projects as part of run riot, their first ever curated salon show featuring the work of 50 regional and national artists. Being invited to participate in my first group show in Kansas City is a huge deal for me, and I am very much looking forward to experiencing Boi Boy’s newest installation and mingling with the KC/Plug scene at this Friday’s opening reception. run riot will be on view at Plug Projects through November 3 and all works are for sale. See you Friday!
COLOR PLAY!
🔺🔵🔶💚 What a show -- thank you to all who experienced Color Play this weekend, especially the little ones who laughed, wondered, danced and dug with us. We made this show with you and for you. What a gift you are to the world. Thank you to the incredible team that I was lucky to be a part of - Amanda, Clarissa, Ernesto, Leah, and Rachel. A huge THANK YOU to the Arts Center pros that made this world real and magical: Tammy Keiser (costume design), Samaria Fleig (lighting design), Toni Young (light board op), Drew Hafling (builder), and Jason Barr (set design). Now, on to the next world!
