I use performance to question the limits of the category of “woman” and assess how constructions of gender intersect and interact with race, class, and sexuality. I particularly focus on the liminal position of Black women, who are readily identified as being spectacular figures: either sub-human, machine, or monstrous. Featuring looped behaviors, my performances flirt with excess and absurdity to rival the sheer incomprehensibility of the systems and structures that have been manufactured to oppress Others. Each performance centers body memories and is inspired by my attempts to reckon with my estranged relationship to my gendered and racialized queer self.
In Gorgades, I covered my entire body in dark, artificial hair. While clothed in my dress of hair, I performed normal tasks like braiding, tying, and combing my hair, and completed actions, like sweeping the floor.