Bridge Artistx innovate : gatherings of women, non-binary, and genderqueer artists of color

Abstract

The four artists featured in this initial Bridge Artistx archive are what I term innovative artistic gatherers, in that they practice an artistic aesthetic and/or participate in a method and process that defies or blurs disciplinary and linguistic boundaries, expands upon form, incorporates new media or technology, and grapples with identity, culture, politics, and activism. The work of Bridge Artistx might, in some circumstances, be referred to as “experimental” or “avant-garde,” but in this research I aim to develop a more expansive term (innovative artistic gathering) to describe the process and aesthetic of these artists. Finally, as an artist-scholar, I interweave autoethnographic analysis of my own innovative artistic gatherings in relation to artists Bridgforth, Gómez, Quezada, and Young in this research. My sister project to Bridge Artistx is Quiero Volver: A Xicanx Ritual Opera, a multimedia performance that includes original music/sound compositions, poetry, playscript, and excerpts of Bridge Artistx video portraits. The composition and staging of this performance is charted within Bridge Artistx, and the original playscript for Quiero Volver is included. I have chosen a multidisciplinary approach and narrative methods of analysis with the intent to demystify artistic process and to inspire innovative artistic gathering from younger/newer artists.

Where do women, non-binary, and genderqueer artists of color turn to find their lineages? In Bridge Artistx Innovate: Gatherings of Women, Non-Binary, and Genderqueer Artists of Color, I examine conceptualizations of family, artistic processes, rituals of self-care, and advice of four artists: Sharon Bridgforth, Magdalena Gómez, Vick Quezada, and Nicole M. Young. Third World feminist theories inform my analysis of four testimonio video portraits of Bridgforth, Gómez, Quezada, and Young, included in this work.