writing and making
Trained as an academic, the rules and regulations of writing and making were an imperative part of my education. From academic prohibitions against using the first-person to the affect-led embrace of the auto-ethnography towards integrating poetics, illustration, and other languages for “knowing,” my writing and making practices explore the rich possibilities of exploring and reconfiguring the structures of different expressive forms.
My relationship with writing and making was very conflicted in school. While I liked writing, I was often paralyzed by the fear of a blank page, or a sensation that my work wasn’t good. My studio practice, on the other hand, was an arena where, assured of my mediocrity, I allowed myself a much more generous space to experiment. It was through my willingness to try and fail and fail again that taught me to be bolder in my writing (and the profound power of good editor).
Having taught writing and creative research in an academic setting for over 15 years, I love working with people to use writing and making as tools for creative production and inquiry, into a theme, topic, or as introspection. I completed a residency at Naropa University in contemplative teaching and learning (2021). My writing can be read in Hyperallergic, and I’ve edited for Art Journal and the Race and Yoga Journal. I am a regular writer covering the RI art scene at Art New England. In addition to working with students, I work with Providence-based artists and writers as editor managing of the online journal Providence Arts & Letters.