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Karen
Sherman
moved to Minneapolis in 2004 after 16 years living and working in
New York City. Her work is known for its humor and concurrent commentary
on darker aspects of the human emotional landscape. She is inspired
by science, social issues, and the impact of one's surroundings on
the individual. She has danced wearing roller-skates, light bulbs,
shotguns, waterwings, inflatable boots, OSHA-approved respirators,
flammable materials and virtually nothing at all. Her representations
of sexual identity – and the experience of inhabiting the female
body specifically – push beyond the conventional to give voice
to the queer body, and are hallmarks of her performances. Her work
has been presented by P.S. 122, Danspace Project, Movement Research
at the Judson Church, Dixon Place, Improvisation Festival/NY, Jacob's
Pillow, Highways (LA), the Walker Art Center, the Southern Theater,
Red Eye Theater, Studio 303 (Montreal), among many others. She has
worked and collaborated with numerous artists, including Morgan Thorson,
Hijack, Circus Amok, Sally Silvers, Sarah East Johnson/LAVA, Clarinda
Mac Low, Nami Yamamoto and the feminist punk electronica band, Le
Tigre.
Artist
Philosophy
I am interested
in how environmental and social influences shape the emotional life
of characters and how that manifests in movement and story. My work
seeks to embody strangeness, the violence and comedy of the physical
body, its histories and imaginary terrains. As a queer feminist,
I explore mutable gender while expressing an allegiance to being
female. I often sample recognizable cultural artifacts (movies,
musicals, novels, pop songs) but mutate their highlights (or focus
on their lowpoints) to suit my background, experience and transgenderist
view of the body. My sensibility is dedicated to sentient work with
social relevance and visible seams. I embrace a scrappy, homemade
feel in much of my work as it underscores the rough terrain and
precariousness of live performance and life itself.
Video
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