Portrait and Landscape 12
with Julia Taffe and Diana Lopez
'Being Called to the Land' with Julia Taffe
Vertical dance site work offers me a pathway to thrive as an artist by deepening my connection to the lands and people. I will introduce myself and my artistic practice in relation to the unceded Indigenous lands where it has been created and performed, and I will reflect on the precepts that have emerged to guide my creative practice of vertical dance.
Next, Diana Lopez Soto will introduce how she is weaving sustainable and regenerative practices into her life and practice. Expanding into the topic of rootedness in dialogue with Diana, we will reflect on what it means to return to the land. What responsibilities do we accept, in the context of decolonizing our artistic practices here in Canada and as visitors in other people’s territories around the world?
'Sustainable practices as life and practice' with Diana Lopez.
I am a mother, a land caretaker and a multidisciplinary artist interested in sustainability as a means to find balance in both, life and practice. Organic Agriculture, Ngui Style Qgong, Integrative medicine, Ethnoecology and Site-specific work are a few of the practices that inform my process. Our practices are not separate from our lives. Food, ecology, health, mind and our combined histories shape our practices. I believe that my work must have the ability to respond for/about/to the sustainability of our communities. (Responsible= the ability to respond).
Image description: A daytime, yellow-leaved, autumn woodland. In the centre of the image, a chair-like scaffold frame suspended by ropes hovers above the leafy woodland floor. Sitting on the frame is Diana Lopez hugging the structure, holding on with arms folded across her chest and legs crossed. She is wearing a dark green long sleeved top and maroon leggings and she has long black hair.
