black out poems: grasp + release

A series of black out poems created using my medical file as source text. I requested my medical file in 2016 and first began making work exploring it in 2018 in through performance. In 2019 I moved into redacting and manipulating the text through black out poems.

These works are a reclamation of my medical archive, poems, visual works and choreographic scores used in performance and created in 2019 while supported with the Dance NYC DDA Fund and Laundromat Project Alumni Fellowship at Denniston Hill.

With the Alumni Fellowship an art book ‘grasp+ release’ was published 2019 with the support of The Laundromat Project, Denniston Hill and Eyebeam. The hand bound editions of the book were bound with support from The inter*island collective members Ariana Davis, Jaq Brown, Jessica Palalagi and Momoe i manu ae ala atea’a.

The art book has traveled as part of ‘Here to lounge’ exhibition (2020) curated by Finnegan Shannon to Nook Gallery, California, USA and Helmhaus, Zurich (2021/22).

The works have also been printed onto aluminium panels and exhibited at the Schwules Museum in 2022 as part of the Queering the Crip, Cripping the Queer’ festival.