Influencia is a multimedia solo exhibition. Through dance, film, photography, and sculpture I explore pushing past our perceived limits and the influence we can collectively have on each other. There will be a live community sculpture building where attendees will be welcomed to contribute to a vessel made of clay.
Last summer, I had the amazing opportunity to take salsa lessons from Maria Moreras, a professional dancer by way of New York. Our lessons were focused on body movement. As I watched her body and tried to mimic her movement, Maria moved my body into a position that it had never been in before. I felt an opening and release, and the words fell out "I didn't know." Maria then went on to talk about the body and how we have self-perceived limits on what we are capable of. She explained that our bodies have a memory, and when we push ourselves past these perceived limits, we can move more expansively and freely. Our body remembers that we can go beyond what we did before.
After this experience, I kept thinking about her words and the feeling I had when my body opened up. I thought about the phrase, "The body has a memory." In ceramics, we often refer to clay as a "clay body." Clay also has a memory. In my practice, I'm always trying to push the limits of clay. It's in that space of being on the edge, possibly breaking but just as possibly transforming, that my creativity lives.
Sometimes in life, we need someone or something to take us to that edge to show us what is possible when we step beyond our perceived limits. Maria's hands and wise words moved me beyond my perceived limits. People, experiences, art—these things influence us. They mold us, push us, and even break us at times. We can try to be immovable, and put up walls and limits. Or we can brave the tide of life, allowing it to influence and move us. We can dare to see what is possible just beyond the mark.
@nita_ceramics