Sha Sha

Artist Statement

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:20:09 -0800

I approach dance through the medium of sculpture. I interweave painterly manipulation of physical materials and textures I make one by one from wood, paper, silk, ceramic and gold leaf with a labyrinth of delicate props. My work strives to create a path where movement and stillness meet. Shreds of memory lace into a drama of a thousand intricate pieces, slowly moving, stirring our memory toward a sense of patience and timelessness.
The air surrounding us is like many planes in space, assorted canvases of images. Every time we move about, the space around us is filled with drawings, colorful sketches and complex patterns. Our thoughts blend into the air and space about us. With these "costume sculptures" I want to show how we are the elegant complexity of the atmospheres about us. Emotions and thoughts cluster on the surface of our bodies and then break away, fly and float off. Each bundle of emotion becomes yet another entity in itself, splitting into many facets again, gathering and returning to its source.

On the surface of our skin there are multiple little theaters and stages. One inch away from our body is the sky under which the drama of this tiny world unfolds. As the costume stirs itself, it is as if every movement is filled with thousands of adventures.
As a child, I was fascinated by the peek boxes we used to make out of shoe boxes. You looked into the peephole and saw cutout layered landscapes portraying a silent wonderful paper world. I seek to do this today. I am allured by the "theatrical" quality of flipping through ancient palm leaf drawings from India. They are visual line clusters of symbolic journeys through love, emotions, battles, and life. One of my goals has been to make theater like turning through pages of a book of paintings. The stylized turning of the pages makes the intricate detail of each individual picture come to life. The slow shivery movements of each scene make the potential of the next scene even greater. A shattered piece of a story seems even richer alone because it has the potential of being inserted into the whole.

Performance is the discovery of things as they happen at that moment for the first time. Nothing is rehearsed. The variable elements that are brought to each performance are painstakingly assembled. When these new things are discovered on stage, it is as if the audience and myself for one moment actually feel like the same being, momentarily fascinated by the same thing. Yet each person's interpretation is different from the other, one of the parts comprising the whole. The audience is like the many strings of a tent, supporting and encapsulating the environment within the canvas billows.
To assemble the parts of a performance, I make things with my hands out of many materials. The handmade parts of the costume are my door into performance. The costume, along with its set and props, takes nearly two years to develop. I develop the costume and performance together so that at any point during the two year period, it' development could be seen, and could be considered complete. But the longer I work on the costume/sculptures they become fuller with more environment around them. I love making beautiful objects, as well as taking them into movement and life.

e-mail: shasha@shashahigby.com E:

Resume

Sat, 1 Nov 2008 13:52:10 -0700

2004 Jan- March Research in Vietnam, Laos  2007,1992 Research in Thailand and Sumatra  1990 Research in India, Indo-American Fellowship  1978 - 1982 Academy of Music, Dance and Puppetry, Central Java, Indonesia  1979 One year study of carving & masks, Gianyar, Bali  1977 California College of Arts and Crafts and U.C. Santa Cruz, CA  1970 - 1977 Skidmore College, Bachelor of Science, New York  1976 - 1978 Studied dance with Eiko and Koma Otake, San Francisco, CA  1974 Bill Baird Puppet Theater, New York City, NY  1972 - 1973 One year study of Japanese arts: Noh mask, calligraphy, and tea ceremony, Japan  Awards  2008,2003 6,&1998 Zellerbach Family Fund; $2500  2005 Silicon Valley Community Foundation-performances in schools   2004,2002 & 1999 CASH grant, Theater Bay Area total $4500   2002 September Fund for U.S. Artists at Festivals and Exhibitions ,Arts International $2000  2002August Marin Arts Council Individual Artist Grant in Sculpture/3 D  2002-1986 California Art Council Touring program  1998April Institute of Noetic Sciences and Fetzer Institute,$1,500  1997April The Japan Foundation  1997 April Fund for U.S. Artists at Festivals and Exhibitions $2500  1996 April Flow Fund, $2000  1996 January Fund for U.S. Artists at Festivals and Exhibitions $2500  1995 September Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission;6 months in Japan(approx. $50,000 in Japanese Yen)   1995 January Fund for U.S. Artists at Festivals and Exhibitions $3500  1994 December N.E.A. RIARP Program(LACE/New Langton Interdisciplinary Artist Project)  1994 March Travel Grants Fund for artists, Joint Project of N.E.A. & Arts International,$4,000  1993 — 1996 Western States Arts Federation: Touring Roster  1993 January Pacific Northwest Art Presenters: Showcase Performance  1992 April California Art Council: $5,000 New genre individual artist fellowship  1991 November National Endowment for the Arts: $5,000 Solo theater artist fellowship  1991 September Marin Arts Council: $2,500 Fellowship for non-traditional media  1986 - 1996 California Arts Council: California touring grant (10% - 50% subsidy for 1987-1996)  1990 July Indo-American Fellowship: Study in India in 1990 - 6 months  1990 July Fulbright Scholarship: Study in India in 1990 (unable to accept)  1989 November Zellerbach Family Fund: collaboration with Russian grsoup Derevo  1989 June Dance Bay Area: $500 Marketing seminar grant  1986 November Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation: $3,000 Performance grant, Brooklyn, NY  1986 April New Langton Arts - (N. E. A.): $2,500 Interdisciplinary grant, San Francisco CA  1985 December Marin Arts Council: $6,500 Grant for new genre costumes, Marin, CA  1985 December Edna St. Vincent Millay Colony: Residency, Austerlitz, NY  1985 November Inter-Arts of Marin: $3,500 Project grant for performance, Marin, CA  1985 April Montalvo Center for the Arts: Residency, Saratoga, CA  1983 September Sausalito Arts Festival: Purchase Award & Artist Award, Sausalito, CA  1983 Summer S.F. Arts Festival: 2nd place award-crafts, San Francisco, CA  1978 - 1979 Department of Indonesian Art and Culture: 18-month scholarship  1978 -1982 Fulbright-Hays Grant: study of puppet craft and performance in Indonesia   Performances:
2010 March Virginia Festival of Arts,Norfolk, Virginia  2010 December Noh Space,San Francisco  2009 January Ishikawa International Urushi Exhibition; Wajima,Japan  2008 September Mendocino Art Center-Performance   2008 September San Francisco Fringe Festival   2008 July Niada Conference-Speaker  2008 August Bolinas Museum- Exhibition   2008 June San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles,Exhibition,Performance  2008 April San Francisco Exploratorium   2007 December The Glass Museum,Tacoma,Washington.;performances,workshops   2007 January Idyllwide School of Art.CA;workshop   2007 November Mount San Jacinto College,exhibit.;performance,workshop   2007 November Southwest School of Art,San Antonio.; Residency   2007 November Starnet Mashiko Japan; performance   2007 July The New School,Commonweal,Bolinas.;performance   2007 July SAn Francisco TheAtre Festival; performance   2007 May THE NOH SPACE, San Francisco.; performances   2007 May Community School for Music and Art, Mountain View.;performance,workshop   2007 March Cowell Theater, collaboration with Carmen Carnes Dance Company,  San Francisco.; performance   2007 January Women of the Way, Dance Mission, an Francisco.; performance   2006 November Santa Cruz Performing Arts Festival.;performance,Workshop   2006 August Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest,San Francisco.; performance   2006 July Colorado College, Colorado Springs,.;performance,workshops   2005 November COCA,St Louis.;performance;Performance,workshops  2005 July Peters Valley Craft Education CenteR.;performance,workshops  2005 June MacCallum Theater, Palm Desert,California.;performance,workshops  2005 May Arts Incubator of Kansas City.;performance,workshops  2005 March Crockett Contemporary Art;Crockett,CA,Exhibit  2005 May San Francisco Asian Art Museum performance  2005 May Gansen Urushi Studio International World Urushi Council,Chiba,Japan  2005 March Isagaya Gallery;Tokyo,Japan,Exhibit  2005 Mar & Nov Noh Space, an Francisco,CA;performance,workshops  2005 January Volcano Art Center, Big Island,Hawaii.;performance,workshops  2004 December Nichigei Universerity,Japan University, performance  2004 December Nikki Gallery,Tokyo,Japan,performance  2004 December Utsunomiya,Japan,performances  2004 October For the World Council for Arts & Culture;performance,workshops  2004 October Pt Reyes dance Palace;performance,workshop  2004 October New genre 1X Festival, Tulsa Okalahoma;performance,workshops  2004 July Costume Specialists: Denver,Colorado;performance,workshop  2004 July Marblehead Arts Association,MASS;performance,workshop  2004 June St Patrick School,900 Branch St, Arroyo Grande; performance, workshop  2004 March Konishi Gallery in Gion,Kyoto;Japan;performance,  2003 December SomARTS Cultural CenterCA;performance,with Dance NAGANUMA  2003 September Textile Museum,Via Santa Chiara 24,1-59100 Prato,Italy;performance  2003 June Surface Design Conference; Kansas City, performance,  2003 September Ohio Craft museum,Cleveland,OH;exhibit  2003April Colby College;Maine;performance,workshop  2003 July Exit Theater; an Francisco;performances,workshops ; 2002 September Esalen Institute; Big Sur,CA;performance,workshop  2002 November Clatsop Community College,Astoria,Oregon;performance,workshop  2002 November Evergreen State College, Olympia Washington;performance,workshops  2002 November Kyoto City University of Fine Arts; performance  2002 October Gongju Asian Monodrama Festival,Korea;performances  2002 October Tokyo Textile Institute,Tokyo,japan; performance, workshop  2002 October Praha,mijin biru,Sapporo & otaru,Hokkiado,Japan;performance,workshop  2002 September Sangre de Cristo Conference Center,Pueblo ,Colorado, Exhibit,  2002 June Orcas Island,Eastsound,Washington;performance,workshop  2002 May Very Special Arts,Albuquerque,NM:,performance ,Exhibit,performance,workshop  2002 April CSUB San Bernadino Dept of Music,Ca,Performance,Workshop  2002 March 1 Regina A. Quick Center for theArts,Buffalo,NY,:Exhibit  2002 March Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Great Performers & Ideas  2002 January Pacifica Performances,Pacifica,California  2002 March Columbia College,Inter-Arts,Chicago,Ill,Workshop  2001 November Four-Eighteen Project, Santa Cruz, A  2001 November Point Reyes Dance Palace,CA;performance  2001 November Noh Space; an Francisco, A  2001 October Tokyo Textile Forum,performance;workshop  2001 October Kanazawa Bunko,Shoyomyo-ji Arts Festival, Japan  2001 October Gallerie Pousse,Ginza,Tokyo,Japan;performance,Exhibit  2001 October Hekisui Hall,Minakuchi,,Shigaken,Japan  2001 September Michigan Technological University,Edu. Opportunity Dept;Houghton,MI,Performance,Workshops;  2001 September San Anselmo Playhouse CA;Performance,  2001 September San Jose Museum of Art; performance  2001 July The Marsh, San Francisco,CA,Performance,  2001 June Santa Barbara Summer Solstice,CA;Performance,Workshops,Center Stage,  2001 June Bead Society of Northern Greater Chicago,Ill;Performance,Workshops  2001 May Japanese-American Museum,Los Angeles; performance,  2001 April Baltimore College of Art,MD;Workshops,  2001 March Mc CalluM Theater, Palm Desrt,CA,Performance  2001 February Palomar College, San Marcos,CA;Exhibit,Performance,Workshops,  2001 February San Diego Museum of Art;Performance,Workshops   2001 February Winston-Forsythe Elementary School;performance,workshop,Foltz (336)774-4626  2001 February Duke Institute of the Arts,Performance,Sheafer Lab,Raleigh-Durham,NC  2001 January Bolinas Museum: Exhibit Family Theater,Buffalo,NY  Exhibit,Performance,Workshops  2001 January Walt Disney World-Creative Costuming;Performance,Workshop  2001 January Secca,Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston   Salem,NC;exhibit,performance  2000 December Zeum,San Francisco, A   2000 November South Jersey Performing Arts Center,Camden,NJ;Performance,Workshops,  2000 November Allegheny College,Meadville,PA;Performance,Workshops,  2000 November Berkshire Community College,Hadley,NY ;Performance  2000 October Carmel Performing arts festival,carmel,ca,Performance,workshop,Exhibit,  2000 October Pierrot 2000, International Puppet Theater Festival, Tara Zagora  Bulgaria,;erformance  2000 September Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater,NY;Exhibit,  2000 September Detroit Festival of the Arts,MI,Performances,  2000 September Arlington Cultural Affairs, A ,performances, workshops  2000 June Santa Barbara Summer Solstice,CA,Performance,Workshops,  2000 June Mc Callum Theater, Palm Desert, A  2000 May Geidei University (Tokyo Institute of Fine Arts)  2000 May Hikari no Tani Museum,Chiba,Japan;performance  2000 April Beyond the Surface,Lake Tahoe,CA;performance  2000April. University of Massachussetts at Amherst,Amherst,MA ;Performance,Workshops  2000 April. Hartwick College,Oneonta,NY ;Performance,Workshops  2000 February. Scottsdale Center for trhe Arts,Scottsdale,AZ;Performance   1999 October Edison Theater, St .Louis;Performances,Workshops  1999 October Mateel Community Center,Garberville,CA; performance,  1999 August Cowell Theater,San Francisco,CA;Performance supported by Zellerbach Family Fund  1999 Apr.-Aug. Hammond Museum,New Salem,NY, Exhibit  1999 March Shinjuku Opera City, Tokyo,Japan,Collaboration with Loto Bomba (music)and Kin Taii, (visuals),Perfomances,  1999 March Gallery Seniwati, Ubud,Bali,Indonesia,Performances,Workshops  1999 February STSI,School of Dance & Music,Denpasar,Bali Performance;performance  1998 December Theater of Yugen,Noh Space,San Francisco,Performances  1998 October Zeum Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco  1998 November Wagon Train Project Lincoln,Nebraska,Performances,Workshops   1998 November Downtown Art center San Rafael,CA Exhibition,Perfomances,Workshops  1998 November University of Lincoln,Hillestad textiles gallery-;Exhibition,Workshops  1998 October Lesbian and Gay Dance festival, San Francisco,Performances  1998 September Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival,Mill Valley,CA Perfomrances  1998 August Hayama Ishiki Kaigan, Kanazawa,Japan,Performances  1998 August Shomyo-ji Temple,kanazawa,Japan, San Francisco,Performance, Collaboration with Masaaki Takano  1998 August World Urushi Council Meeting,Kawatsura,Akita,Japan,performace  1998 May Theater of Yugen-Noh Space, San Francisco,Performances & Collaboration with Masaaki Takano  1998 April Textile Fiber Forum, Mittegong,Australia,Performances & Workshops,  1998 April Women's Healing Arts Network , Tasmania,Australia,Performances & Workshops,  1998 March St michael's Collegiate School, Tasmania,Australia,Performances & Workshops,  1997 November Dance Palace,Pt Reyes,CA;Performance   1997 October Carmel Performing Arts Festival,CA;Performance   1997 August Cowell Theater, San Francisco,CA;Performance   1997 June International Micro Festival Dordrecht, Holland,Performances,Workshops  1997 June Monterey World One, Ca;Performance,   1997 June San Francisco Craft & Folk Art Museum, Ca;Exhibition,   1997 April Fairfield Center for the Arts, Ca;Performances,collaboration with Yoshiaki Watanabe   1997 February Theater Artaud ,SanFrancisco, Performances, workshop  1996 November Richmond Art Center ,Ca;Performances, workshop  1996 September Centralian Fibers; Alice Springs,Australia,Performances, workshop  1996 June Singapore Festival of Arts; Singapore;Performances, workshop  1996 May Franklin Furnace; New York City,NY;Performance, collaboration with Sylvia Nakkach  1996April Smokebrush Center for the arts; Colorado Springs,CO;Performance, workshop  1996April Humbolt State University,Centerarts,Arcata,CA;Performance,workshop  1995 October International Paper Symposium,Kyoto,Japan, Exhibition & Performance  1995 November International House,Tokyo,Japan,Performance  1995 December Blue & White ,Tokyo,Performance  1995 December Tokyo National College Of Art,Performance  1995 January Otokoba,Tokyo,Japan,Performance  1995 February Gallery Gallery,Kyoto,Japan,Exhibition & Performances  1995 September New Langton Arts,Bay Area Award Show, San Francisco,CA,Performance  1995 August N.E.A. RIARP Program,Pt. Reyes Dance Palace,Collaborative performance  1995 July World Dance Alliance/Asia Pacific Chapter,Soeul, Korea,Performances,workshops  1995 July Affandi Museum,Jogjakarta,Indonesia;Performance   1995 July Seniwati Gally(women's Gallery) Bali,Indonesia,.Performance   1995 July Bali Arts Festival ,Denpasar,Bali Performance,  1995 April Arts Resources,.El Paso,Texas;Performance, workshop,  1995 April CSU Hayward,Performance   1995 March Art as a Healing Force,Commonweal,Bolinas.CA;Performance ,  1995 January Hong Kong Fringe Festival,Hong Kong ;Performances,  1995 January Honolulu Academy of Arts,HI,.Performance, workshop,  1995 January Volcano Arts center.,Hawaii,HI,Performances ,workshops,  1994 April U.C. Davis Textile Dept.; Davis,Ca.Performance workshop,  1994 March Benicia Camel Barn Museum,,Benicia, CA; Performance & Exhibit,  1994 March Fiber & Ritual,J.F.K.University,,Orinda, CA; Performance & Exhibitt,   1994 January Painted Bride ,Philadephia,PA, Wearable Art Exhibit  1994 December Pierce County Arts Commission,,Tacoma,Washington,Performance & workshop  1993 November Center For Contemporary Art,Santa Fe,New Mexico,Performance & workshop  1993 October Richmond Art Center,Richmond,CA; performance & workshop  1993 October 8th St. Studio,Berkeley,CA;Collaboration with painter,Sherry ` Petrini,performance  1993 October Center For The Arts At Yerba Buena Gardens: Performance  1993 August Galerie Fuzee At Spectrum: San Francisco: Performance  1993 July Califonia State Summer School For The Arts Valencia,CA;workshops,Performance   1993 May Del Norte Association For Cultural Awareness: Crescent City, CA; Performance  1993 May UC Chico: Chico, CA; Performance  1993 May UC San Diego: Mandeville Recital Hall, San Diego, CA; Performance  1993 April ARTernatives Gallery: San Luis Obispo, CA; Exhibit  1993 April UC Santa Barbara: Girvetz Theatrer, Santa Barbara, CA; Performance  1993 April Cal-Poly State Theater: San Luis Obispo, CA; Performance  1993 April UC Santa Cruz Performing Arts Center: Santa Cruz, CA; Performance  1993 Feb. - May Arizona Museum for Youth: Mesa, AZ; Exhibit  1992 November Laughing Rock: Kula, Maui, HI; Performance  1992 October Divaldo Korzo: Bratislava, Slovakia; Performance  1992 October Eco-Center Mill/Linhart's Foundation: Prague, Bohemia, Czech.; Performance  1992 October Narodne Divadelne Centrum: Bsca, Slovakia; Performances  1992 August Wellspring Center for Healing: Stinson Beach, CA; Performance  1992 June Carver Comunity Cultural Center: San Antonio, TX;   2 week residency co-sponsored by NPN,Collaboration with musician,Barbara Benary  1992 May Galerie San Non Co-op Ltée.: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada;   Performance,Collaboration with visual & performance artist,muscian,Peter Van Riper   1992 April Sonoma Community Center: Sonoma, CA; Performance  1992 March Bellevue Art Museum: Bellevue, WA; Performances and Workshop  1992 Jan. - March Southeast Asia Tour: Performances in Thailand and Indonesia  1991 December Oakland Museum: Oakland, CA; Performance  1991 December Shepardess Gallery, San Diego, CA; Performance & Workshop  1991 November M. H. de Young Museum: San Francisco, CA; Performance  1991 October Humbolt State University : Peformance  1991 October Bowling Green University: Bowling Green, OH; Performance & Lecture  1991 September Art Source Bistro: West Linn, OR; Dinner Performance  1991 September Oregon Art Institute: Portland, OR; Performance and Seminar, WAAA Conference  1991 September Echo Theater: Portland, OR; Performance  1991 September Oregon Coast Council for the Arts: Newport, OR; Workshop  1991 September Corvallis Art Center: Corvallis, OR; Majestic Theater, Performace  1991 August Gallery Route One: Pt Reyes Station, CA; Performance  1991 May Theatre Artaud: San Francisco, CA; Group performance (sponsored by H.M.C.F)  1991 April San Francisco State University: San Francisco, CA; Seminar  1991 March Portland Art Museum: Portland, OR; Exhibition  1991 March Portland State University: Portland, OR; Performance, workshops  1991 March Clatsop Community College: Astoria, WA; Performance  1991 February Arizona State University, Inst. for Studies in the Arts: Tempe, AZ;   Performance & workshops,collaboration with musician, John Casey  1991 January Sonoma Community Center: Sonoma, CA; Performances  1991 January Richmond Art Center: Richmond, CA; Performances and workshop  1991 January Hatley Martin Cultural Forum: San Francisco, CA; Performances  1986 - 1991 Richmond Art Center: Richmond, CA; Ongoing Textile Studies workshops  1984 - 1991 Tamalpais Adult Community Education: Larkspur, CA; Ongoing Textile Workshops  1990 June Singapore Festival of the Arts: Singapore, Malaysia;   Performances & performance workshops  1990 January Festival of Sydney: Sydney, Australia; Performances & performance workshops  1989 December University of Washington at Bellingham: Bellingham, WA; Performance, lecture  1989 December Hatley Martin Gallery: San Francisco, CA; Solo Exhibit and performances  1989 November Life on the Water: San Francisco, CA; Collaboration with Soviet group Derevo  1989 October Franklin Furnace: New York, NY; Performances  1989 October University of Massachusetts: Amherst; Performance and theater workshop  1989 October Maryland College of Art: Baltimore, MD; Costume workshop and lecture  1989 September Duke Institute of the Arts: Durem, NC; Performance and Theater workshop  1989 September Rutger University: New Jersey; Symposium: Art of the Invisible Reality  1989 September Franklin Furnace: New York, NY; Performances  1989 September Headlands Center for the Arts: Sausalito, CA; Performance workshops  1989 July New Langton Arts: San Francisco, CA; Performances  1989 May Yreka Community Theater: Yreka, CA; Performance  1989 May Mendocino Art Center, Mendocino, CA; Performance  1989 May Next Stage: San Francisco, CA; Performance  1989 April Hatley Martin Cultural Forum: San Francisco, CA; Performances  1989 April Indiana State University: Terre Haute, IN; Performance, Theater & Textile Workshop   1989 March Yuba Sutter Arts Council: Marysville, CA; Performance and Video  1988 November Arena Renaissance Theater: Pt. Arena, CA; Performance  1988 November California College of Arts & Crafts: Textiles, Oakland, CA; Studio Visit & Performance  1988 October Rote Fabrik Kulturzentrum: Zurich, Switzerland; Performance   1988 October October Gallery: London, England; Performance   1988 October Vooruit: Ghent, Belgium; Performance   1988 October Festival De Jeune Theater: Liege, Belgium; Performances  1988 October Melkweg: Amsterdam, Holland; Performance  1988 October “Rosa,” Utrekt, Holland: Performance  1988 October L. A. C. E.: Los Angeles, CA; Performance  1988 September Headlands Center for the Arts: Sausalito, CA;   Outdoor performance on cliffs over the Pacific ocean  1988 July Hatley Martin Gallery: San Francisco, CA; Performance  1988 April Hatley Martin Gallery: San Francisco, CA; Performance  1988 March Shasta Arts Council: Redding, CA; Workshop and Performance  1988 February Academy of Art College: San Francisco, CA; Lecture  1988 January MTV Artbreak: Ongoing showing of video, USA  1988 January Hatley Martin Gallery: San Francisco, CA; Performance  1987 December Centerspace: San Francisco, CA; Performances  1987 November Sushi, Inc., San Diego, CA; Performances  1987 September Jungenkunstschule, Vlotho, West Germany; Performance  1987 September Transcendental Meditation Institute: Blumethal (Bremen) West Germany;   Performance  1987 September Festival Internazional delle Marionnnette: Locarno, Switzerland, Performances  1987 July Hatley Martin Gallery: San Francisco, CA; A Bee on the Beach, Performance  1987 June Marin Arts Council: Sausalito, CA; A Bee on the Beach, Performance  1987 May California State University at Hayward: CA; Cows Under a Pepper Tree, Performance  1987 May Dominican College: San Rafael, CA; Workshop-lecture  1987 April San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA; Lecture, Performance, Workshops  1987 April Works Gallery: San Jose, CA; Cows Under a Pepper Tree, Performance  1987 March San Francisco State University: San Francisco, CA; Lecture, Performance, & Workshop  1987 March Hatley Martin Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Cows Under a Pepper Tree, Performance  1987 January Zephyr Theater - “Dance Action”: San Francisco, CA; Cows Under a Pepper Tree, Performance  1986 October Intersection for the Arts: San Francisco, CA; Cows Under a Pepper Tree, Performance  1986 September Marin Community Playhouse: San Anselmo, CA; Performance funded by InterArts  1986 September Hatley Martin Gallery: San Francisco, CA; Moon Puppets, Performance  1986 May Hatley Martin Gallery: San Francisco, CA; Moon Puppets, Performance  1986 May Saks Fifth Avenue: San Francisco, CA; Window exhibit  1983 January Smith Anderson Gallery: Palo Alto, CA; Group show  1983 October Southern Exposure Gallery: San Francisco, CA; Sasadhara, Performance  1983 August California State Fair Art Exhibit: Sacramento, CA; Performance series  1982 September Jakarta Institute of the Arts: Indonesia; Two-man show  1982 June Jakarta Acadamy of Music & Dance: Java; Group show  1978 January Museum of Modern Art: San Francisco, CA; Video screening of Fuka  1977 November S. F. Art Institute: San Francisco, CA; Fuka, Costume performance  1977 November California College of Arts and Crafts: Oakland, CA; Performance  1976 December San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: San Francisco, CA; Group show  1976 - 1978 Lester Gallery: Inverness, CA; Group shows  1974 August Haystack School: Deer Isle. ME; Performance in the woods

Quotes & Reviews

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 20:00:55 -0700

(Image Above)"Pendant discs (Keman),Konjiki-do Twelfth century.
Keman are believed to have originated as floral wreaths hung as offerings in Buddhist temples. In this particular image,elaborate openwork design in metal of leaves and flowers are two bird women bearing gifts for the Buddha: these are the Karyobingas,or cuckoo-like creatures with delicate voices.In shallow relief,the birds have a warmth and vivacity in contrast to the hardness of the metal..'

There are many reviews. These are only recent ones.Click below to read reviews from SF Bay Guardian ,San Francisco Chronicle,SF Weekly,Theater Bay Area 

SF Chronicle: Sept 2008 Bolinas' always mesmerizing performance art hero, Sha Sha Higby -  -- The Iron Muffin/Glass Jungle II, created and performed by Sha Sha Higby, at Exit Stage Left. It's rare when a performer of Higby's international stature appears at the Fringe, and this is a classic of her unique sculptured-costume performance art. Higby moves fluidly inside an intricate, lacy mesh of twigs, batik fabrics, leaves, seed pods and large and tiny masks, overlaid with kaleidoscopic projections, until her nearly naked body emerges from its evocative cocoon.

“The Glass Jungle
“When Sha Sha Higby was a child, she once sewed a dress with 25 petticoats of different colors, so she could lift each skirt and become something else.
Today, the theme of transformation-and the concept of being hidden under
massive quantities of material-remains prevalent in her work, though she's
upgraded the media. Wood, leaves, paper, silk, lacquer, ceramics and gold
leaf form her fantastical costumes, while Noh theatre, Butoh and shadow
puppetry inform her performances, which could be labeled as "sculptural
costume in motion." In fact, Higby's performances are so ethereal that she
sometimes can't find the words to describe them: "The theme is that there's
something beyond our own world."

Her latest transformation is The Glass Jungle, inspired by a Buddha with
glass eyes she saw on a trip to Burma. "The eyes were blown at a factory in
the jungle," she explains. "There was glass everywhere. The title just
popped into my head." Evoking the desert atmosphere of glass and the
different seasons, the piece combines her White Ash on Water (2004) costume
and her new Glass Jungle costume, a skeletal design comprised of fine metal,
bamboo and felt, among other things. Like the petticoats, she will shed the
first to reveal the second. "Then another masked head will float down from
the ceiling to top it off like a flower emerging, blooming, fading,
dissolving, returning. I want my audience to feel all these emotions.

" She adds, "My work is never linear. It's very open, so people can interpret it
differently." See if you can find the words to describe it.” -Karen McKevitt courtesy of www.theatrebayarea.org
visit www.shashahigby.com. 
Reviewer: Been there... 5 Stars “If Sha Sha Higby were in Japan she would be designated as a national treasure. Having said that , this show will not work for everybody. There is no discernible plot or agreement at the end as to "what it was about". It is a slow unfolding of almost primordial , dreamlike , other worldly images and sounds. The ability to bring a meditative state of mind to this performance is a definite plus. If you can slow down internally for the 60 minutes the show runs ,and allow it to just pass over/through you it can be a deeply moving , almost to the point of tears , experience. There is no explanation. A rare opportunity to see her perform close up.”

"Like a dream of something always known" (Independent Weekly, NC)  "Her art seems to flow from her soul." (Bali Post, Indonesia)
"The shimmering air makes one dream about dreaming... indescribably precious." (The Straits Times, Singapore)

"Higby's art is poetic and potent with hypnotic intensity." (San Jose Mercury News, San Jose, CA)
 "Higby weaves a web of mystical fascination." (Het Laatste Nieuws, Belgium)  "Full of metaphors, fantasy and movement." (Smena, Slovakia)

"A Higby performance is a wondrous event_slight and shaded,the gestured movements revelatory,always in transition....They are works that demand attention...,her multiple metamorphosed are powerful testimony to the achievement of theater,of its metaphorical and ritual power,without peer to the arts....In mask andcostume evocative of Balinese dance -theater. Higby punctuates her movements,her choreographic abstractions accenting the formal ambiance,grounding her work in a miraculous authentic universe...humour weaves its way through the performance....each performance is a discovery for Higby and the audience.. the costume"s complexity is balanced by the performance's mystical simplicity,which has no dialog."-(Ornament Magazine)
 "Weaving a web of metaphorical fascination,Higby's art seems to flow from her soul: approaching dance through the medium of sculptural costume, she stages poetic haunting dramas-enlightening and stirring our spirits,to appreciate the timeless eternity..."(San Jose Mercury News)
"Last,and painfully far from the least,are the cumbersome,yet metaphorically hyperfunctional outfits of Bolinas,California artist Sha Sha Higby. Think Dark Crystal meets H.R.Geiger on the set of a Brothers Quay movie produced in Tibet. Combining elements of sculpture,puppetry and windchimes. Higby's work has that "just got back from Hades" look sure to keep away those courtiers who just aren't deep enough..." (Pueblo Independent)

 

Repertoire

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 19:58:21 -0700

“Folds of Gold”(2010)  “Folds of Tea” (2008) “The Glass Jungle“(2007) “White Dust on Water"(2006) “Bird on a Stick”(2004)
“Tea on a Twig” or “A Cup of Tea on A Twig”(2002) The Yellow Cup (2001-2)"
"Sleeping in a Sandstorm (2000)"
“The Wooden Sun”(1998) 
"The Spider & the Buddha" (1995-96)
Journey through memory and experience, a fantastic mystery woven into a timeless trancelike dance of a spider's adventures into a wooden Buddha.

"Passage into a Paper Sea" (1993-94)
As they examined the fluffy marrow of the lower backbone, they found encrustation's of tiny prismatic jewels and chips of gold arranged in fanciful decorative patterns within the hairline cracks of the spine. They puzzled what quests in life did these creatures have, if in death their jewels continue to grow?
Imagine you float onto a tiny island in the sea. The island is filled with a lacy network of intricate vines, organic passageways, brocaded arches. You become lost and come to a soft clearing, and as if hidden in a forest painting, something emerges to full dimensional life.
 Pineapple Tent Under a Pink Moon" (1992)
Two works emerging into one. The feathered body of a thousand sweet faces, clothed in textured adventures through a forest of marbled heads casting beams of pastel sunlight onto obstacles of delight that cross into its pathway. Unloading fluffy boxes filled with miniature beaded shoes enlace a spinning fan that clicks out rhythms for a tiny corset that dances. It is the urn of life. Bicycles and spinning creatures coated with patterns of milleflore run about the stage, like the madness and entertainment of cities.
 "Pineapple Sunset" (1991)
Our costume is back from its journeys in India now tattered and dusty, with a string of painted flowered heads suspended and swinging into the sky. Folded amongst thousands of pounded silken tussah ikat feathers stitched by 8 Indian tailors and painted by the miniaturists of Jaipur, the same body rusts in the sun, and the heads change their color, letting each visage revolve slowly into a dance of focus and life.
 "The Tin Twin" (1989)
While hidden in an accordion mansion of black and white pavilions the Tin Duck approaches hesitantly and spreads its feathers in glory embraced by a circle of wind. To the song of the rocking of tiny wooden horses and stuffed bicycle men, Higby transforms into a glass cloud, and disappears into a rock to begin again.
 Past Repertoire
"A Tin Duck in a Box of Wind" (1988)
A rock spirals up slowly from the earth and unwraps itself. Donning a cloak of miniature white fences, wrists spin out into tiny white striped trampolines that wind up and curl. Folded paper buttons open up a chest of yellow clouds. Buried in a neck of smocked feathers, a face splits into fire.
 "A Bee on the Beach" (1987)
Shred pleated tissue in a branch, skins of snake in sand rattling, the costume emerges into its full armour of spiraled silk of a dance with forty wriggling fingers, fans and flags. A felted automobile spins in the sky.
 "Cows Under a Pepper Tree" (1986)
The cycles of birth, death, and rebirth are created in a tiny town constructed of carved wood gates, flaming houses, mechanical birds, spindles & mirrors.

"Through a Gold Window" (1985)
Within a suspended crystal window set, the crouched dancer elastically controls miniature golden puppets.

"Moon Puppets" (1984)
In two parts, Sha Sha begins in a black costume with delicate yellow puppets and then breaks into a whimsical, lacy costume, surrounded by a set of small chairs which are knocked over in a dance with spiraled sticks.

"Sasadahara" (1983)
In a costume conceived and made by the artist in Java, the dancer sits in a glassed shrine, and emerges from a costume carved from water buffalo hide by Indonesian village puppet makers.
e-mail: shasha@shashahigby.com

Touring History

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Australia: Festival of Sydney; Belgium: Ghent: Vooruit, Liege: Festival de Jeune Theatre; Canada: New Brunswick: Galerie Son Nom Coop Lleé; England: London: October Gallery; Holland: Amsterdam: Melkweg, Utrekt: Rosa; Hong Kong: Fringe Festival; Indonesia: Bali Arts Festival, Affandi Museum, Seniwati Gallery, Jakarta Academy of Music; Japan: Tokyo National Academy of Art; Korea: Seoul, World Dance Alliance; Singapore: Singapore Festival of the Arts; Switzerland: Zurich: Rote Fabrik Kulturzentrum, Locarno: Festival Internazionale delle Marionnette; United States: MTV: "Artbreak" (video); Alaska: Anchorage Museum of History & Art (exhibit); Arizona: Arizona State University; Colorado: Smokebrush; Maine: Haystack Mountain School of Art; Maryland: Maryland College of Art; Massachusetts: U. M. at Amherst; New Mexico: Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe; New York: New York, Franklin Furnace - Rutgers University, Skidmore College, Emma Willard School, Simon's Rock College; North Carolina: Duke Institute of the Arts; Oregon: Portland Art Museum (exhibit), Portland State University, Corvallis Art Center; Texas: Arts Resources, Carver Community Cultural Center; Washington: State University at Bellingham, Clatsop Community College - Astoria, Bellevue Art Museum; California: Arcata: Humbolt Sate University-Centerarts; Chico: University of California at Chico, Los Angeles: L.A.C.E.; Marysville: Yuba-Sutter Arts Council; Redding: Shasta Arts Council; Sacramento: California State Fair; San Diego: Lyceum Theatre, Sushi, University of California at San Diego; San Francisco Bay Area: S.F. Art Institute, S.F. Museum of Modern Art (video), Life on the Water, Zephyr Theatre, S. F. State University, S. F. Arts Festival, Goethe Institute, The Lab, New Langton Arts, Climate, Hatley Martin Cultural Forum, Intersection, Pt. Arena Renaissance Theatre, San Jose Museum of Art, Works Gallery, California College of Arts and Crafts, Kala Institute, Dominican College, Artisans, Marin Community Playhouse; Santa Barbara: University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz: University of California at Santa Cruz, Yreka: Yreka Community Theatre;

About the Work

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International performance/sculptural artist, Sha Sha Higby is known for her evocative and haunting performances using the exquisite and ephemeral body sculpture she meticulously creates herself and moves within. Elaborate sculptural costume, dance , and puppetry explore magic and emotion, creating an atmospheric world within the borders between death and life. Higby started out making dolls and pursued the art of puppetry and sculpture in her early years which evolved into “moving sculpture.” yyMs. Higby has performed her unique body of work throughout the United States, and internationally in Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Slovak, Bulgaria, Singapore, Australia, Switzerland, England, Belgium, Germany and Holland. She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards including the National Endowment for the Arts Solo Theater Artist Fellowship, The Zellerbach Family Fund, the California Arts Council New Genre Individual Artist Fellowship.

She studied for one year in Japan in 1971, observing the art of Noh Mask and theater and then received a Fulbright-Hayes Scholarship to study dance & shadow puppet making and performance arts in Indonesia for 5 years at the Academy of Music, Central Java, Indonesia. In addition to traveling throughout Southeast Asia to Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), she received an Indo-American Fellowship to study the textile arts of India, and a Travel Grants Fund from Arts International to study in Bhutan.She has also recently studied lacquer arts in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan through the auspices of the Japan-United States Friendship Commission.