Members List
All members names are listed alphabetically. To learn more about each member click on their name below. Please scroll down.
Bami Adedoyin, Brooklyn, NY
Mohd Fuad Arif, Malaysia
Megan Bisbee, Alfred, NY
Missy Carr, Washington, DC
Kristin Carroll, Boston, MA
Tony Conrad, Buffalo, NY
Kristin Carroll, Boston, MA
Tony Conrad, Buffalo, NY
Lara Davis, Providence, RI
Cindy DeFelice, Brockport, NY
Ghen Dennis, Buffalo, NY
Leigh Ann Francis, New Brunswick, NJ
Chifumi Fujisawa, Mosumoto, Japan
Amy Goldberg, Rochester, NY
Bethany Goldpaugh Brown, Kingston, NY
Virva Hepolampi, Helsinki, Finland
James Holland, Southbury, CT and Rochester, NY
Kelly Jacobson, Kansas City, MO
Akil Kirlew, Brooklyn, NY
Caroline Koebel, Buffalo, NY
Jennifer Little, Rochester, NY
Edna Madera, Rochester, NY
Darin Martin, Oakland, CA
Tammy McGovern, Buffalo, NY
Colleen Vera Melisz, Buffalo/Rochester, NY
Toni Mosley, Auckland, New Zealand
Tomoya Murazumi, Kanazawa City, Japan
Akane Nakamori, Kanazawa City, Japan
Stephanie Nolasco, New York, NY
Natasha Pachano, Costa Rica
Warren Peace, Jersey City, NJ
Anjanel Dawn Pinet, Rochester, NY
Mima Simic, Croatia
Joan E. Stoltman, Buffalo, NY
Diane Teramana, Kingston, NY
Angela Tessier Kanazawa City, Japan
Andy Tetzlaff, Kanazawa City, Japan
Matthew Underwood, Boston, MA
Adam Weekley, Buffalo, NY
wolfgrrrl sometimes billijo, Rochester, NY
Walter Wright, Lowell, MA
Ami Yamasaki, Kanazawa City, Japan
Ojima Yukari, Kanazawa City, Japan
Karen Y. Zhang, Beijing, China |
|
Members List
|
Abiola Abrams
Abiola's
Artist Statement
Filmmaker/Videomaker
www.evesmagic.tv
I am the only person I've heard of who has been both a pageant
queen and a rapper. Yes, the same person can make Jaws and
The Color Purple. This kind of contradiction is evident in
my work. Contradiction frustrates because we feel the need
to label.
My
work provokes controversy because telling the stories of women
of color is controversial. I aim to empower by telling our
potent truths in full range. Those truths are often scary,
usually beautiful, sometimes sexy, occasionally ugly, perhaps
extremely funny and, yes, dirty laundry‚ too. Doing what
people say can not/should not be done excites me. My art,
in part, is about pushing the boundaries of how stories are
told. If some people are angry after witnessing my work, even
at me, this is good because they are thinking/feeling. A woman
shouted at me after seeing my play Goddess City, "How
dare you write about womanhood?! You're probably in your early
30's. Your titties haven't dropped yet." I was 25. Another
woman sent me a letter after I wrote a Ms. article saying
that Lewinsky scared people because they fear women's aggressive
sexuality that "me and my liberal cronies were going
to cause the ruin of society."
Magical
realism is a very strong part of my "Third World"
sensibilities. Giving a voice to the voiceless while acknowledging
the unseen, I aim to create work with a sense of fun, risk,
experimentation, rhythm, theater and big, strong ovaries.
And yes, as in life there is often nudity, violence or strong
language. All of my work is documentary even when it is disguised
as narrative. Commercial, i.e. creating work for a mass audience,
is not a dirty word for me.
My journey?
I am the daughter of amazing storytellers, so I have always
been a writer. My sister Damali also writes with words and
images, while my brother Ovid Jr. writes with music and technology.
My first exploration into giving life to the words that I
wrote was when, at 15, I became a rapper. The headmistress
of the Upper East Side girls' school that I attended called
in my parents in horror. I continued my explorations with
theater at Sarah Lawrence College. Experimenting first with
short story writing, then playwrighting, I also pursued life
as a performer. My life as an actor, although mildly lucrative,
did not feed my soul in the way that directing and writing
does. I have so much growth as an artist ahead of me, and
I'm having a ball!
Major
Influences: Spike Lee, Mira Nair, Ntozake Shange, Old
School Hip Hop, William Shakespeare, Caribbean/African Magic,
Betty LaDuke, Faith Ringold, Toni Morrison, Stanley Kubrick,
Steven Spielberg.
Favorite
Films include: X, Do The Right Thing, Requiem for a Dream,
Sound of Music, Pollack, Dancer in the Dark, Godfather II,
School Daze, Cooley High, Moulin Rouge, Rosewood, Quick Change,
Hamlet 2000, Breakfast at Tiffany's, AI, Clockwork Orange.
abiola
abrams
filmmaker, eve's magic
www.evesmagic.tv
|
|
|
