✨ Poetic Performances ✨
OPEN Center for the Arts
Chicago Resilience Festival
Zapatos Rojos
DePaul University, Chicago, IL⇝
3/9/2018 Poetry Reading and Lecture,
“Zapatos Rojos”Part of artist Elina Chauvet’s
United States Installation journey
Zapatos Rojos or Red Shoes is an art project realized by the Mexican artist Elina Chauvet. It deals with a city route which consists in lots of pairs of red or red-painted shoes to commemorate the many cases of violence against women in the whole world⇝ In particular, his first work was realized in Ciudad Juarez, the border city between Mexico and the United States, where for the first time it was used the expression “femicide”.
Here, indeed hundreds and hundreds of women were abducted, raped and then killed since 1993⇝ It’s not known the real number of victims, but it’s known that the authorities have never seriously considered this shameful truth, covering everything and never making justice for the women killed or their families.
Organized by Juana Goergen, 10 Chicago Femme artists were invited to perform at the DePaul University reception as well as in Chicago's predominantly Latinx neighborhood of Pilsen at La Catrina Cafe⇝ I performed a new poem titled "Zapatos Rojos" which illustrates my own personal narrative within the "#metoo" movement in the U.S in relation to femicidio in other countries and the continued policing of Trans Women's rights.
En OPEN Center for the Arts conmemoramos el Dia Internacional de la Mujer con SELVES Women's Exhibition por el colectivo Pintoras Mexicanas⇝
La muestra consta de 27 obras en pequeño formato, por pintoras mexicanas radicadas en CDMX, Nuevo Leon, Jalisco, Tabasco, Morelos, Estado de México, North Carolina, Michigan, New York e Illinois⇝
At OPEN Center for the Arts we commemorate International Women's Day with SELVES Women's Exhibition by the Pintoras Mexicanas collective⇝
The sample consists of 27 works in small format, by Mexican painters based in CDMX, Nuevo Leon, Jalisco, Tabasco, Morelos, State of Mexico, North Carolina, Michigan, New York and Illinois⟿
91.1
Vocalo Radio Performance
WBEZ 91.1 FM Vocalo Radio, Chicago, IL⇝
3/4/2018 Domingos en Vocalo:
Selves: Women's Exhibition Interview with Rocio Santos
Performed “The Law of Conservation of Mass:
Luke, Leia, and Lilith”
A few days prior to the opening of OPEN Center for the Arts' Selves: Women's Exhibition organized by Alma Dominguez to celebrate Women's history month, LOUDA, a Latinx vocal powerhouse and I were invited to perform live on Vocalo Radio⇝
We discussed the ways in which we all constantly work towards breaking the molds set by gender roles, how women can support one another, and the ways we are still growing and learning together⟿
Pilsen Fest
Pilsen Fest, Chicago, IL⇝
Gold Rush
8/20/2017
This outdoor festival will feature renowned musical acts drawing an attendance of 60,000 people⇝ The objective of the Festival is to celebrate and embrace diversity, solidarity and unity.
91.1
Domingos en Vocalo:
Mujeres Con Power Series
Domingos En Vocalo: #MujeresConPower Series
► vocalo.org/player 91.1FM Chicago
Interview with Rocio Santos
Performed Gold Rush
06/16/2017
"Este domingo conoce la historia de Kim Chayeb, una artista multidisciplinar/performer/poeta californiana de raíces mexicanas y residente de Pilsen⇝ Kim nos compartió "Gold Rush" y otros de sus poemas sobre género y las micro-agresiones de distintos grupos que presenta en vivo con un nuevo lenguaje a través del performance⇝ ¡Sintoniza este domingo a las 4pm CST!"
Citlalin Gallery Performances
Being relatively new to the Pilsen Art community has been an experience; In 2017, I was invited to share 2 of my poems at Write to Resist, an event organized by an incredible human named Maya Piña.
Little did I know that this chance encounter & connection would blossom into a friendship full of support, encouragement, and most importantly, trust.
One year later, and many other performances later, I hosted my first event titled Transitocando: Disrupting Gender Binaries.
As a Pansexual Pangender Feminist who is typically perceived as being cishet, I was humbled to be arround so many strong Trans women who at the end of the day, are simply that.
Women.
Women who fix each other's crowns yet aren't afraid to throw down.
Gold Rush
Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago, IL⇝
March 2017, Collaboration with El Beisman
Note to Self:
Write your story⇝
Witness other's stories⇝
Have empathy for others⇝
Have empathy for yourself⟿
The Imaginary Center of Perception
Gallery 400, Chicago, IL⇝
7/21/2015 “The Imaginary Center of Perception”
Collaboration facilitated by Kirsten Leenaars
Video documentation of 'The Imaginary Center of Perception', a collaborative performance by Kirsten Leenaars⇝ Performed July 21st, 6-7 pm at Gallery 400, Chicago⇝ Albeit highly mediated in TV and the Internet, artist Kirsten Leenaars responds to the witnessing of the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, to name a few. Leenaars’ performance responds to the anger, the pain, the injustice, a flawed system and the senseless loss of lives⇝
Through a poetic collaborative performance with spoken text – derived from the original eye witness accounts of the Michael Brown shooting – sound, and choreographed movement, this performance explores the act of witnessing today in light of such recent events in America as the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray⇝ What does it mean to be a witness today? How is the story framed? What does your testimony mean? And what or who do you see? How can being a witness move away from merely being a passive observer to a position of hope, affecting change?
Performers: Marvin Tate, Matthew Robinson, Regin Iglora, Kim Chayeb, Wa Chontong, Opel Smittinet, Valentina Vella, Caleb Yono, and Lindsey Barlag. Drummer: Dan Bitney⟿
Hot Topic
Side Street Studio Arts Gallery
Elgin, IL.
6/20/2015
Unidos Show
#BDSM
#BodyImage
#CholulaChula
#HotHotHot
#HotSpoon
#HotTongue
#LantixFireBreather
#RacialStereotypes
#RedHotSauce
#SadoMasochism
#WhiteCandle
#WhiteMilk
#WhiteTears
#WhitePrivilege
#WildTongue
Notes on Empty Chairs:
Response to Doris Salcedo Exhibit
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL⇝
4/14/2015 & 5/19/2015 Response to Doris Salcedo Exhibition:
Notes on Empty Chairs: Pt. 2 & 3
From Kirsten Leenaars:
Taking place over three Tuesday evenings at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago “Notes on Empty Chairs” is a series of three one hour performances by Chicago-based artist Kirsten Leenaars, with assistance of Lindsey Barlag, that explore themes of empathy, loss, and remembrance in response to the exhibition Doris Salcedo. The performances are cumulative and -collaboratively developed with local community groups⇝
This second performance, “Notes on Empty Chairs” (part 2), performed on April 14, 2015, responds to the terms absence and presence. Both describe fundamental states of being⇝ Through a simple choreography in relationship to Salcedo’s installations the performers explore the notion that a body in totality is much more than a physical presence. Whether representing, presenting, or standing-in, the performers negotiate what it means to occupy or create a space, as subject or object⇝ The human body is not a concept⇝ It is irreplaceable⇝
The performers for "Notes on Empty Chairs" (part 2) include: Marvin Tate, Matthew Robinson, Regin Iglora, Kim Chayeb, Udita Upadhyaya, Sonia Yoon, Melina Ausikaitis, Christopher Guidotti, Christopher Gambino, Soheila Sima Azida, Valentina Vella, Alex Main, Alexis Atwill, Alison Auwerda. Drummer: Dan Bitney⇝
This third performance, Notes on Empty Chairs (part 3), responds to Cathy Park Hong’s recent essay “Against Witness”⇝ This essay about Salcedo’s work was commissioned on the occasion of the Doris Salcedo exhibition and published in the May 2015 issue of Poetry⇝ Through a poetic performance involving spoken word derived from original transcripts of eye witness accounts, sound and choreographed movement, Notes on Empty Chairs (part 3) explores the act of witnessing today in light of such recent events in America as the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray⇝
The performers for Notes on Empty Chairs (part 3) include: Marvin Tate, Matthew Robinson, Regin Iglora, Kim Chayeb, Monica Brown, Wa Chontong, Toni Zhao, Opel Smittinet, Valentina Vella, Alison Auwerda. Kekeli Kodzo Sumah, Jose Perez. Drummer: Dan Bitney⟿
Hijabonita
How does one perceive one's self? How is one perceived by others?
What role do epigenetics play in one's life experience? What role do they play in one's cultural and ethnic expression?
What part of one's body determines one's gender identity? What is femininity? What is masculinity?
How much control does one have over one's body? How much control does one give others?
What is a boundary? How does one communicate one's boundaries?
What is vulnerability? How is one vulnerable to one's self? How is one vulnerable to others?
What role does sacrifice play in one's lifetime?
#Fuck
A
Hashtag
Siragusa Gallery, Chicago, IL⇝
3/8/2015 Blackness is More Than Just One Story
Hidden Dog Gallery, Chicago, IL⇝
7/21/2016 Sensory Overload: Bunker, "#FAHashtag"
Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL⇝
8/18/2016 Hot Seven: The Chicago Breakdown, “No More Hashtags” Film
Ongoing collaboration with Darius Thomas where we explore what it means to be black in America, who gets to decide what is labeled as "racist", and the prevalent colorism which still exists in the Latinx community across the globe⟿
#Accountability
#BlackIsBeautiful
#BlackLivesMatter
#WhatsTheValue
The Black Experience
The BFA & MFA Shows are THE events of the year at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago⇝
It's the reason why we stay up all night working. It's the life purpose to which we have comitted⇝
In April of 2016, the presidential elections were just around the corner and all the world watching; the final coat of glaze was brushed onto the dry ceramic before another round of firing, another cop shot an innocent black body and the last nail was hammered into the exhibition space after waiting in line for dibs on the best spot...
On this night, Darius Thomas and I performed #FAH in honor of all the lives lost at the hands of racist police officers who work to uphold the white patriarchal capitalist prison industrial complex⇝
After all was said and done, the SAIC MFA Show opening night after party was THE time to celebrate being alive:
Today is our only guarantee⟿
The Way It Felt
#metoo
The Unbearable Lightness of Breathing
Named after Kundera's philosophical work "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", my piece attempts to shed an illustrative light on the weight of responsibility that comes with the burden of individual human consciousness and the freedom that comes from the gift of the collective unconscious⇝
Our cumulative contribution to the destruction of Earth's natural resources by way of pollution leads to the depletion of clean water sources leading to the privatization of water by way of our government's refusal to invest in clean sources of energy in order for our capitalist world (not just nation) to continue to profit at the expense of the masses⇝
By using the body as a metaphor for Gaia, a sound art piece with urgent implications playing in the background, preservation jars, tea light candles, and the air all around me, my performance grapples with themes of sacrifice, offerings, and mother/child archetypes⟿