ARTIST STATEMENT

Sonic art is the foundation of understanding myself in the world and in my skin.  I am the product of a culture deferred–a simultaneous mixture of erasure, mutation, and plurality. Being a Black Bi-racial American cultivates a complex perspective that is ever present in my approach to processing through sound. My work is the evolution of black cultural traditions- music, history, and poetry. The unpredictable nature of being Black in America parallels my focus on the music of the now with reaction, voice, and word as my foundation. I use improvisation to explore the lyrical and guttural sounds of my body, and to deconstruct text into sound components in order to convey attitudes, attributes, and connotations. In composition, I instruct the performer to find their most authentic self through their instruments. This process is conveyed through graphic, text-based, and notated scores, allowing the musician the autonomy to interpret how they perceive this subject. With words, I orate a narrative reflecting my unique perspective as a Black American, queer woman. I enhance all of these facets with electronics into a synthesized immersive soundscape. My sonic practice is created with the mindset of congregation and community; to share and expand a culture rebirthed; a culture healing.