Joya: arte + ecología
Artist in Residence
17 July - 12 August 2022
Joya: arte + ecología is an arts-led field research centre. The research is manifested through an arts residency (Joya: AiR), where artists and writers collaborate with ecologists and environmental activists. Joya: arte + ecología also curates annual international exhibitions.
Joya: arte + ecología is based at Los Gázquez, the Parque Natural Sierra María - Los Vélez, Andalucía, Spain. Here, five beautifully restored farm houses have been made into one off-grid, sustainably-minded destination within a place of outstanding natural beauty.
I was accepted as Joya’s AiR from mid-July-mid August 2022.
Joya is a meeting point for divergent and creative thinking. It is a multi-disciplinary residency, self determined, critical, and profoundly engaging.
Proposal
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
FRUIT FROCKS F O X
2016
Discarded orange peels repurposed into a costume to be worn amongst a tropical fresh fruit salad.VOMITON EXPANSION
2022
International Performance Art Collective
@vomiton_
“I am currently a member of the International Performance Art Collective, VOMITON. We create oversized masks fashioned from trash as a playful, cathartic response to Covid 19.”
MASK
A mask is a form of disguise or concealment usually worn over or in front of the face to hide the identity of a person and by its own features to establish another being. Masks, as occult identity shifters, often act as means to connect with the supernatural realm through the aid of costume, music, movement, and poses. Upon donning the mask, the wearer sometimes undergoes a psychic change and as in a trance assumes the spirit character depicted by the mask.
As a creative development of this collaboration, I have turned to dancing outdoors: performing with the elements as my audience.
Click on images to watch videos
This project seeks to encourage people of all ages to interact with their local environments in order to feel more at home in the wild.
Dans La Mer
Mask Creations
Snail Shell
Inside the belly of the beast
Photography
Mask Making Workshop
Photos by Daniel Gisberg and Kit
Joya: AiR / Kit Ondaatje Rolls / ENG
‘Before I came I was so excited to have a month dedicated solely to creating, but my experience was so much richer than just that. The environment was profoundly nurturing. By this I mean the land, the people, Joya: AiR as a home, the food, the space, the freedom, Frida and Fou Fou, and the beds(!!)... I saw many artists come and go, and it was a pleasure to observe just how much impact every single artist had on the group dynamic. The cross-pollination of ideas, thoughts, references, and sometimes wonderful nonsense was fantastic and much needed :)
The month was ‘productive’ but not in the way I was expecting. As proposed, I danced, sung, hiked, climbed, and created peculiar creatures. Surprisingly, I only had two days of ‘existential bleugh’ where I questioned my artistic capabilities and concluded that I best resign forever. Until the evening’s festivities begin again and perspective is gained, quite literally — how can you not be humbled when watching a full moon rise over the magnificent south-easterly mountain in wonderful company. What a month. What a residency. Thank you’!!
Kit Ondaatje Rolls
@joya_air
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