Artist Statement
I embody what I remember of my Elders, how they sliced through space with their knowledge, intelligence and wit. My practice is informed by our Iñupiaq dancing, by certain dances that are done for fun. My body remembers the energy of puuktalu, a certain dance done at a certain time, it remembers the extravagant costumes performed at another time of year. My performances include the energy of my biological grandmother, performing in front of everyone in the gym, using costumes and unexpected gestures that would make the crowd roar. I remember watching her at the side of her sister, my grandmother. I was gently nudged by her as a little girl, as my grandmother said, "you are just like her".
I perform as a way to communicate my Iñupiaq values, the things that do not translate into English. A way to imprint upon the psyche of the audience the ethos of who we are, to blast them with the intangible, with the ethereal, without giving away secrets explicitly. It is the poetry of my body, it is the melody of the Iñupiaq language that discomfits and soothes. I perform to disarm, and reassemble, towards closer truth.
I perform as a way to communicate my Iñupiaq values, the things that do not translate into English. A way to imprint upon the psyche of the audience the ethos of who we are, to blast them with the intangible, with the ethereal, without giving away secrets explicitly. It is the poetry of my body, it is the melody of the Iñupiaq language that discomfits and soothes. I perform to disarm, and reassemble, towards closer truth.
C.V.
