April 19, 2022 Speaker
Using slides, Sha Sha will first introduce you to her approach to movement and theater as it originally came to her through sculpture, mask, and costume. She will have pictures of her early work and the steps and choices she made to come to what the work is today. She will do some movement related to the sculptures. Participants will be invited to ask questions.
Sha Sha Higby approaches dance through the medium of sculpture, Using the painterly manipulation of materials such as wood, silk, paper, lacquer, beads,ceramics, and gold leaf, Higby creates ephemeral body sculptures. These painstakingly constructed “costumes,” interwoven with delicate props,are the foundation for haunting performances,inspired by Indonesian, Japanese, Indian and Western dance traditions.
Higby’s trance-like movements reveal a theater of slow passion,potent with hypnotic intensity. Sha Sha Higby studied for one year in Japan. and for 5 years in Indonesia,under a Fulbright scholarship. She is a recipient of both Fulbright and Indo-American Fellowships to study in India.
It’s wonderfully difficult to describe the work of Sha Sha Higby. Her costumes, or moving sculptures, are tornados of colors, textures and shapes. They look like everything and nothing at the same time. Each individual costume that is used in performance can take years to make and is informed by a lifetime of experience.
There are no analogies that can fully characterize Higby’s work, but one might be reminded of a Venetian Carnivale mask, African tribal art or a character in Japanese Noh theater. That familiar images make up an otherworldly whole in her costumes is perhaps appropriate, given the experience of the artist herself. The path of Higby’s artistic development has been a journey through distant places, landing her here in the Bay Area. With her art, Higby has found her journey and achieved her escape. The hope is that the viewers will find theirs as well.
Speaker: Sha Sha Higby
When: April 19, 2022, 7:00 pm PDT
Where: Zoom. RSVP required. Send an email to JudySinclair@beadsocietyofnorcal.org
This event is free to paid members, or $5 to access this meeting only. To pay the $5, please contact JudySinclair@beadsocietyofnorcal.org. To become a member, apply here.