Artist Statement

A map is an invitation for movement.

Movement has become an invitation for map making.

My background as a dancer has led me to explore various embodied practices. My interest in subjective movement mapping arose in tandem with my interest in site-specific performance making. Taking inspiration from the Situationist International and Guy Debord, my approach to performance has expanded to include performative elements of the everyday, movement patterns that arise out of the structure of urban environments and how emotional states affect (and are affected by) these physical elements.

These movement maps extend an original attempt to subjectively map all of my movements (dance, pedestrian and otherwise) in an attempt to blend the boundaries between what is considered 'dance' and what is considered 'non-dance' movement vocabulary and practices. The vigorous research of subjectively tracking my movement patterns on paper (without any regard for scale, spatial accuracy or clear geographical markers) was a month long study which was then condensed into a series of 7 selected maps. This series (titled Movement Maps Part I) is a part of a traveling zine show curated by Tara Bursey titled The Portable Library Project.

Movement (and Feelings) Maps Part II as well as Time Spent Maps Part III both attempt to integrate emotional content with the influence of time. Quantitative tracking, list making and statistics were an approach used to create both series. As with the first series, each came from a month of tracking my movement patterns, how these patterns affected me emotionally (and how my emotions in turn affect my range and quality of movement) and how time was being distributed among various 'essential' actions. Some of the maps have been published in Her Royal Majesty as well as the Toronto-based Passive Collective.

Using elements of Judith Butler's thoughts on gender performativity, Hannah Arendt's definition of public space as “the space of appearance” and Erin Manning's choreography in the "movement of thought" these maps attempt to create a trace of the performances that occur everyday and to show how they shape and are shaped by the spaces in which they take place.