Doing Creative Work
from Your Political Body


A Process and Guide for Practice-led Research
by Myriam D. Diatta





FEATURED ARTISTS


The Interlude chapter includes interviews with the following 8 critical creative practitioners. The descriptions below include their name and a hint from the interview that suggests a variety of realities regarding what happens between practice and theory.


Zakiya Collier
BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE:“I would be on the train reading, getting my life, getting mobilized. What I read was integrated into my mind and the way I work going forward.”

zakiyacollier.com



Zakiya processing papers in a client’s studio. Image courtesy of the artist.


Linda Dounia
BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE:“Sometimes theory has a direct translation that can be made with the hands. Sometimes it’s indirect and percolates. Sometimes you see something that becomes a corpus of theory.”

lindarebeiz.com



Snapshot from Linda’s studio at 10 a.m. Images courtesy of the artist.



Rain Embuscado
BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE:“I’ve internalized so much of those readings. I spend 90% of the time there. One out of ten times, I will separate theory and practice and reflect on what that’s doing.”

rainembuscado.space



Rain’s studio at the University of Missouri’s School of Visual Studies. Image credit: Bianca Turner and Igor Arume. Image courtesy of the artist.



Jelsen Lee Innocent
BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE:“They’re extensions of each other — an immediate extension. I can’t imagine a separation.”

jelsenjelsenjelsen.com



Jelsen in his studio. Image courtesy of the artist.



Baseera Khan
BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE:“I never could figure out how to make a visual from reading, thinking, and annotating. It can take 10 years to arrive at a place where I can make something from that.”

baseerakhan.com



Baseera working in her studio. Image courtesy of the artist.



Heesoo Kwon
BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE:“I imagine some kind of magic because I’m getting the input and really reflecting the energy to my world.”

heesookwon.com



Image captured at Heesoo’s San Francisco studio while Mago Leymusoom (2002) was in production. Images courtesy of the artist.



Fei Liu
BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE:“Once I start to name the theory, I start to create this distance from my work. It starts to create this rubric. This rubric and the practical, material things that I’m trying to do don’t go naturally together.”

trytobegood.com



Fei sanding down one of the 28 domino pieces for the project, Our Good Bones, on her rooftop. Image courtesy of the artist.


AK Wane
BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE:“It’s like riding a bus. You’re looking out the window and experiencing this passage of time and society. Of course, you can make your own theory. But it does feel like theory exists outside for me.”

annakwane.com











NEWSLETTER

Access to tips, news, and reflections on critical and creative practice. This project is not on social media.

BOOKINGTo invite Myriam to speak at your event, program, lab, or course, contact her at myriamddiatta (at) gmail.com.

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