Irregular Pearls, 2017
Video and sculptural installation
Cyclorama Center, Boston, MA

Irregular Pearls consisted of a three-channel video and single-channel video exhibited on custom steel armatures and three light sculptures. The sculptures were created through laser cutting clear and smoked grey acrylic sheet into hundreds of “crystal” shafts and binding these shafts to custom, precision water-jet cut pieces of steel so they could be mounted on the floor and to the ceiling. The video explores the relationship of rehearsal to performance through pants roles or drag roles in classical opera. Three performers inhabit a series of locations: endless backstages, green rooms, dressing rooms, and rehearsal rooms, where they continually prepare, rehearse and endure the stress of preperformance. The character’s inability to exit their circumstances references larger questions of the performance of gender and identity.