Raj Na Ziemi / Paradise On Earth
2024

Raj Na Ziemi / Paradise On Earth is a multidimedia eco-feminist puppet ballet.

The performance incorporates puppetry, drag, gesture, poetry, and live music and singing to deliver a fragmented folktale about the tensions present in modern man’s relationship to nature.

This production was staged at the Loyola Chapel in Montréal in May of 2024.

Featured performers: Daniel Bayardo, Sarah Barrone, Rae Michelle Cordero, Kai Corrigan, Patrick Dale, Isaac Doughty, Gargoyle Glurg, Catherine Machado, Lex Moh, and Marcela Szwarc

Musicians: Yuecheng Huang, Jane Kasowicz, Fahmid Nibesh, Anya Sylenko

Puppets, Costume Design:
Marcela Szwarc

Writing / Direction: Marcela Szwarc

Photos by Christine Iasonidis

Sense of Space, Good Will, and Energy
2023

Sense of Space, Good Will, and Energy is an homage to Dick Higgins and La Monte Young of Fluxus, as well as a reinterpretation of Higgins’ piece Essay on La Monte Young. In this work, Higgins drew a visual chart, pulling from a myriad of sources to make sense of what sustains an artist: spiritually, physically, emotionally. I found myself most attracted to the three abstractions above, and felt the connection deeply within my own work.

And so, Sense of Space, Good Will, and Energy became both a triptych and praxis for me. Each tenet was visualized as a banner, and each banner was sewn with naturally died fibers.

Just before sundown, I invited community members, artists, neighbors, and two musicians on a walk. Volunteers held ribbons that ran from the banners. Along with musicans Yuecheng Huang and Nico Holtzman, we led the parade goers through the neighborhood, guiding the procession with a minimalist composition that included an accordion, a violin, and a triangle. A guardian angel brought up the rear of the parade.

Embodying the Cageian ideals of letting ambient sounds influence the work, I invited participants to consider how the urban environment was also part of the composition. As such, nothing was left out: a barking dog, a car battery kicking in, our feet on gravel; all became elements of the performance. The procession wound through a neighborhood that is partly residential, as well as being home to garages and auto shops. As we walked, people inevitably came out to both watch and listen.

This procession was performed at CHANTIER, upon invitation from Centre SKOL for their 2023 anniversary party. It was made possible with the contributions of volunteers, community members, and composers Yuecheng and Nico.

Photos by Maria Sanchez

Topielec/Drowner
2024

Durational Performance:
75 minutes

Topielec/Drowner was a ritual as much as it was a participatory artwork; the performance was put on at McBride Contemporain on the occasion of Nuit Blanche.

My tools were paper, scissors, and bowls of water. Visitors were invited to write down something they wished to let go of, and I translated their notes into paper cut-outs that responded to the words. The people who volunteered to write down their worries became my co-conspirators in the process.

One by one, I held the paper cut-outs underwater in basins, until each basin was full.

This procession was performed at McBride Contemporain, on the occassion of Nuit Blanche in 2024 to conclude the exhibit Best Friends For Never.

Photos by Michael Patten

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