Erika Boudreau-Barbee – performance et art visuel
Je crois que la performance est beaucoup plus qu’une démonstration divertissante…
I believe performance has an unwritten agreement to call on something larger than its immediate entertainment demonstration. I prefer to perform in gallery spaces, sites I find and things I run into instead of a traditional theatre- developing a connection with faces, bodies and objects existing directly in the space. For site specific work, I choreograph using not only the visual inspiration of my surroundings, but also by observing the data of the area to create movements of the mathematics of my space. My art is research to further understand human nature.
Like many dancers, and most humans, I live with pain daily. Although I can become sad and frustrated with my physical body, with this new project, I am choosing to honor the hurting that I feel. January 30th was my first entry into this journaling process. I sat with my drawing paper book and began to paint my thoracic spine. As I laid my spine down on the paper, I felt a relaxation I wasn’t expecting. I was filled with calmness, joyousness, and even understanding. These beautiful paintings are not of darkness and despair but of gratitude and healing. The physical pains are represented by an impression of the body using black paint. Emotional pains are represented as shapes and colors. This journal will become alive with dance, with each entry inspiring 15 seconds of movement. It will be the most personal performance of my career. It will tell a story, a story I am not alone in knowing.