Ezra Dickinson Dance, Art, & Performance

Three-way collaboration between Baso, No Touching Ground and myself. Placed in the doorway of The Northwest Film Forum, right above a regular sleeping location for people experiencing homelessness. We as a society have the means to provide a roof over the head of each and every human in the US, the only thing that stops us from achieving this most basic of human needs is, the rot and greed of capitalism.

Free Rent (2017)

(2017) poster collaboration

Collaboration between myself and No Touching Ground. Seattle has an ongoing affordable rent crisis. New development continues to displace the most vulnerable among us. Without being too politically pointed, we felt this image of a birdhouse with the words FREE RENT painted on the side, communicated that humans, being truly nothing more than animals, deserve shelter.

Nikitta poster (2017)

(2017) designed and hand painted poster

No Touching Ground and I teamed up to create this large poster for Seattle mayoral candidate Nikitta Oliver. We worked together to create the overall design, chose the intended location, and hand painted both the portrait and font. Zorn B Taylor generously allowed the use of his photograph as reference for the portrait. It felt really good to look back at my path as a street/graffiti artist and see all the steps that lead to creating a work like this. In a lot of ways this is what I would love to do more of in the future. I feel graffiti artists have a unique perspective when it comes to, among other things, location and placement, very relevant attributes when dealing with messages that need a high level of visibility. I’m proud to support progressive candidates for office locally and nationally.

Psychic Radio Star (2016)

(2016) performance premiere

Part of a series of performative gifts for my mother, this solo performance commissioned by On the Boards, Psychic Radio Star explores an aspect of my relationship with my mother, related to the performance Mother for you I made this.

As I have grown up, my mother wants to hear about my life as an artist, and upon hearing, her reply has become, “I’m famous too, I’m a Psychic Radio Star”. Through this performance I imagine who her Psychic Radio Star is. This self given title is so evocative I can’t help but think of images of:

unfathomable universal forces,
mythology of the galaxy,
ancient cave paintings,
neon fish, and
the dark shadowy depths of the sea.

These images evoke memories of growing up with my mother: her sensibilities and joys; her hobbies and eccentricities; and her complicated, beautiful mind as it slips, piece by piece, into unbalance.

Through this work I feel that I am able to provide a voice for my Psychic Radio Star mother, while encouraging a healing and constructive conversation around the failed mental health care system in America. A major goal of this work is to engage with community/organizations through the idea of art as therapy. In the hopes of creating a safe place for anyone to talk freely about their own experiences with mental health. As I continue to explore my mother’s story – I also tell my own.

Collaborator Credits:

Jen Zeyl Artistic Producer.

Danielle Blackwell Costume Designer.

Paurl Walsh Sound/Composition.

Leo Mayberry Video.

Jessica Trundy Lighting.

Weirdo Set painting.

Steve Carlino Stage Manager.

Adam Michard Tech Director.

Anthony Rigano Photographer.

Anthony Jepson, Kyle Loven, Erik Andor, Tim Stackpole, Lily Raabe, Kaleb Kerr, Benjamin Maestas, Larry Browning, Lia Surprenant, Anne Marie Minnick, Brandon Estrella, Matt Sherrill, Equinox Studio’s, Pol Rosenthal, and NKO Rey.

Commissioned solo performance. On The Boards, Seattle WA.

Psychic Radio Star is a recipient of the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project Touring Award, and Production Residency Award, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. As well as the 2016 Artist Trust GAP Grant, and a generous grant from the Bossak/Halibron Charitable Foundation.

Psychic Radio Star previews:

Questions & Answers with Michèle Steinwald and Ezra Dickinson

OtB Writing Corp Profile by Michelle Penaloza

Seattle Times Preview by Brendan Kiley

Seattle Magazine Fall Arts Preview

Psychic Radio Star Reviews:

NKO Rey OtB Blog

Natalie Singer-Velush OtB Blog

Markeith Wiley OtB Journal

Want to Support more work like this?

Performances:

(2016) Premiere On The Boards, Seattle WA.

(2016) Solo performance of Birth, preliminary choreography for Psychic Radio Star. Velocity Fall Kick-Off. Velocity Dance Center, Seattle WA.

(2017) Dance showcase for Pacific Northwest Performance Platform during APAP, Gibney Dance, NYC. In this showcase I took the end of birth into life sections from Psychic Radio Star and performed them with the fabric and costumes for a live audience in the round. I employed two assistants to help with the performance which was about fifteen minutes in length.