Inspired by the expressive performances of diverse-ability contemporary dancers of Propeller Dance and genre-jumping musicians of Atlantic String Machine, the 'Painted Dances' series embodies emotions, gestures, movements and rhythms.

The final series of 12 paintings was created from distillations of over 100 improvisational sketches painted onsite during rehearsals and performances. Titles come from words captured then too and the series spans the colour wheel spectrum as a representation of the diversity of the artists involved. A rim from a wheelchair wheel was used to create circular shapes. Thank you to the City of Ottawa for project support.

PAINTED DANCES ARTIST STATEMENT
I Improvise and feel Overjoyed by how Powerful(ly) the Coming Together with other artists sparks my imagination and allows my creativity to flow.

It’s not always easy. I struggle to know if I can effectively express how much I Embrace the Offering of my collaborators. Like them, I experiment and Keep Going. Until I find the Surprise (aha) moments that allow me to Inhabit the interflow among the separate inputs of movement, music and visual art and Transition this into a series of twelve Painted Dances that Fill Space with a celebration of the Sparkle and Sound of each other‘s artistry.

Julea Boswell,
cross-disciplinary project artist