LEE INGRAM - Studio 303

PROJECT // untitled nightmare

BIOGRAPHY

I am a multi/inter(non)disciplinary artist concerned with forms of storytelling that relate to memory, myth, solitude, spirituality, connection, and healing. As a queer Black/mixed-raced woman of the African-Caribbean Diaspora with Italian ancestry, I explore how my body can contradict expectations in dance, performance, and identity, while remaining receptive to ancient and ancestral ways of being and moving.

My solo works blend dance, theatre, poetry, and film/video. I’ve co-choreographed experimental projects with Lekwungen, “Victoria”-based artists, Lindsay Delaronde, the Visible Bodies Collective, and Kemi Craig. My work with these artists have focused on indigenous/non-western storytelling as well as integrating dance, film, text, percussion, and video projections into culturally specific work.

I collaborate in performance art, installation, sound/score design, and live music, notably with Montreal-based musicians Owen Fairbairn and Habib Bardi. I am now based primarily in Tiohtià:ke, “Montreal”, where I will continue to emphasize community, collaboration, and audience engagement in my work.

DETAILS OF THE PROJECT
During my residency, I’ll explore nightmares, spirits, trauma, dream-body, and personal mythology through a process-based approach. Research, experimentation, and developing a loose structure for an interdisciplinary performance piece will be my focus. untitled nightmare originated from a vivid, unsettling dream I had several years ago, which I later transformed into poetry. Intrigued by the realm of nightmares ever since, I aim to delve deeper, including organizing anonymous nightmares I collected over past Halloweens. I’ll weave together movement, sound, video, and interactive elements to tell a strange, perhaps even grotesque, story. I’ll also continue researching the intersection of hauntology (coined by Jacques Derrida) and Afrofuturism, introduced to me by my friend and collaborator, Kemi Craig. She acknowledges that many black artists’ work is embedded in past memories, their associations, and their spiritual effect. This haunted space is where I seek somatic contact and potential for collaboration with my lineage (ancestors).
Musicians Owen Fairbairn and Habib Bardi will be invited to accompany me during this residency and for later performances.

DETAILS OF THE PROJECT

During my residency, I’ll explore nightmares, spirits, trauma, dream-body, and personal mythology through a process-based approach. Research, experimentation, and developing a loose structure for an interdisciplinary performance piece will be my focus. untitled nightmare originated from a vivid, unsettling dream I had several years ago, which I later transformed into poetry. Intrigued by the realm of nightmares ever since, I aim to delve deeper, including organizing anonymous nightmares I collected over past Halloweens. I’ll weave together movement, sound, video, and interactive elements to tell a strange, perhaps even grotesque, story.

I’ll also continue researching the intersection of hauntology (coined by Jacques Derrida) and Afrofuturism, introduced to me by my friend and collaborator, Kemi Craig. She acknowledges that many black artists’ work is embedded in past memories, their associations, and their spiritual effect. This haunted space is where I seek somatic contact and potential for collaboration with my lineage (ancestors).

Musicians Owen Fairbairn and Habib Bardi will be invited to accompany me during this residency and for later performances.