Post card Dis/Comfort | An Embodied Response

SMR Summer School, The Feminine in an Age of Anthropological Transformation,

Greece | Sept 2024

At the School of Materialist Research Summer School, I presented an embodied scripted reading in response to the theme of The Feminine in an Age of Anthropological Transformation. This durational reading explored the intersections of maternal breath, diasporic shame, and embodied memory, reflecting on how the feminine is continually shaped, contested, and (re)configured across generations.

Rooted in my practice-based research, the reading wove together autobiographical fragments, archival traces, and sensory engagement with breath; attending to what remains unsaid, inherited, or transformed within the maternal body. As a performed intervention, it activated the space through voice, rhythm, and the act of collective listening, mirroring how transnational feminist thought and bodily experience unfold in the moment we are.

The presentation engaged with Julia Kristeva’s notion of the feminine as an ongoing process of transformation, considering how maternal experience, shame, and resistance inscribe themselves into bodily and textual memory. The reading functioned as both an invocation and a rupture, unsettling conventional narratives of comfort and containment while embracing the discomfort that comes with embodied feminist inquiry.

This work continues my research into breath as performance, exploring how the maternal body exists in process—unfixed, unsettled, but always becoming.

Post card Dis/Comfort,

Bidston Observatory Artistic Research Centre (BOARC),

Liverpool | June 2024

Nestled within the historic walls of Bidston Observatory, this embodied circular reading unfolded as a durational practice shaped by breath, voice, movement, and the rhythms of communal living. The site—once an astronomical and tidal research centre—offered a unique resonance for exploring shared air, bodily attunement, and the fluid negotiations of space.

This workshop did not follow a fixed structure; instead, it evolved responsively, guided by the desires, needs, and energies of those present. The generative discussions that shaped this work began over the dining room table, where we gathered to share food and thoughts, reflecting on feminist philosophy, transgenerational breath, and embodied practice. Artists, performance artists, PhD students across various disciplines, writers, and local residents engaged in deep dialogue, forging connections that extended beyond the designated reading spaces. Even the presence of visiting dogs became part of the experience—reminding us of the porous boundaries between human and nonhuman, structured engagement and spontaneous interaction.

The practice of shared housework -cleaning, cooking, and caring for the space together—became an extension of the reading itself, mirroring the durational, dwelling-with nature of my work at Tsarino Artist Residency. These acts of maintenance and care underscored how embodied knowledge is not only held in embodied scripted readings and performance but in the gestures of everyday life.

The circular readings moved between rooms, chosen in the moment, responding to the embodied dynamics of the group and the ways the architecture itself influenced our interactions. Without a singular audience, the readings became dialogues with space itself—engaging voice, gesture, proximity, and stillness.

In this setting, the observatory—once a place of measurement and observation—became something else: a space of listening, attunement, and the generative reconfiguration of shared air. These embodied readings wove together autobiographical, archival, and theoretical texts, punctuated by breath, silence, and the subtle, ever-present exchanges between bodies.

To respect the intimacy and vulnerability of those who participated, there are no images of the collaborators. Instead, the images presented here document the rooms we moved through, capturing the atmospheres that held and shaped this work; a testament to the unfolding, communal process of reading, dwelling, and breathing together.