Among Dreams
Among Dreams traces the invisible histories of Queer American soldiers through short experimental films, photographic portraits, quilt-work, text-based art and collages. Works incorporate new, appropriated and archival materials to interpret and explore interviews conducted since 2011 by the artist herself with active duty soldiers and veterans across the U.S. Oral histories combined with soldiers’ nighttime dreams offer a visceral palette to re-form a landscape largely inhabited but widely unseen.
The 2011 repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell disrupted a history of imposed silencing on our Queer service members; Among Dreams offers an intentional witnessing of and inquiry into stories that have only recently become a visible and audible part of our record, but have always been integral to the fabric of our whole human story.
Spanning topics of Witch Hunt Interrogations, Military Rape as a targeted hate-crime and PTSD, Among Dreams explores the Body Memory and the internalized impact of violence from the perspective of queer soldiers of war.
What the Body Remembers 3
Deborah Suzannie Quon, a retired Navy Veteran who served her country from 1987-2008, learned to show the people that [she] interacted with in the military what they expected to see. Deborah, who was twice the target of witch hunt interrogations for being gay and also raped during her service, learned how to lead a double life while serving in the military.
When stationed in Florida in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom just after 9/11 Quon temporarily resided in a hotel just across from an airport. All night, hearing the planes taking off and landing, she would picture people falling from the twin towers. "So when you ask me if I have dreams, no. I don't have dreams. I have nightmares."
"Traumatic Events Manifest Themselves in Dreams Sometimes..." (What the Body Remembers)
Dreams of JERRE L. BROWN, (2014), Video
Active US Army, Reserve, and National Guard, 1973-1998. Retired as the Nations 1st female State Command Sergeant Major in the National Guard.
WORK: PROJECTS
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Among Dreams, 2011-2015
Among Dreams traces the invisible histories of Queer American soldiers through short experimental films, photographic portraits, quilt-work, text-based art and collages. Works incorporate new, appropriated and archival materials to interpret and explore interviews conducted since 2011 by the artist herself with active duty soldiers and veterans across the U.S. Oral histories combined with soldiers’ nighttime dreams offer a visceral palette to re-form a landscape largely inhabited but widely unseen.
Sweet Loves, 2016
In 2014 276 Nigerian schoolgirls were kidnapped in the town of Chibok by terrorist group Boko Haram, which literally translates to "Western Education is Forbidden."
With more than 63 million girls out of school globally, My Sweet Love addresses the gender inequity in education and attempts to identify and disarm the violent and pervasive silencing of women and girls that is deprivation of the right to education.
New Works in Process, 2016-
Studio, artistic research. Process ongoing.
Among Dreams, 2012/2013
: A Workshop and Book Collaboration between Artist and Inmates, 2012/2013
Among Dreams is a workshop and book collaboration between artist and inmates. Artworks were produced to illustrate violent male offenders' histories and nighttime dreams, culled from a 2012 dreamcircle and writing workshop in the The San Francisco County Jail #5, co-facilitated by Chelsea Rae Klein and Danica Von Hartwig in collaboration with Resolve to Stop the Violence's Manalive program.
Video & Installations
Video and installation documetation, ongoing.
Photography
Transgender icon Amanda Lepore with Nicki M'nray, photographed in Lepore's NYC apartment. Commissioned by Vitrine: A Printed Museum.