Stripping the Gaze

Experience an immersive performance directed by Sarah Lisette Chiesa, Assistant Professor in Dance and Applied Intercultural Arts Research, activating the exhibition BIG & little during its final week on view!

Sarah Lisette Chiesa, Nikki Martinez, Erik Wagner and Rick Wamer will rebuild two of Chiesa’s existing works inside BIG & little: A Vault Show. These works look closely at the role of women in patriarchal society and the ways in which this system builds barriers for women’s autonomy, creating unequal positions in both the household and the public sphere.

The performance will culminate with a conversation among the performers about big ideas that are made small and small ideas that are made big in the ongoing fight for autonomous spaces — ones that promote ant-capitalist, anti-marginalist and pro-movement practices. Chiesa’s artistic signature is her way of using immersive performance as a tool for connection, resistance and collective transformation.

Audience notes: Performance includes brief, partial nudity. Audience members will be able to sit, stand or move around the gallery as the performance unfolds through the space. Performance time is approximately 40 minutes.