I’m pleased to announce that I’m a new member of S.E.W., The Society for Embroidered Work. S.E.W. is an international society of artists who work in embroidery as their medium. Membership is by application once or twice a year and chosen based on the quality of the artwork. I’m very honoured to be a part of this society, which is helping to bring embroidery into the art world as a serious medium.
I’m pleased to announce that the In Corpore Sano anthology has begun publishing excerpts on Medium, including some of the writing I’ve done for the anthology as well as some of my symptomatology and anatomy embroidery pieces.
My personal essay excerpt, Meaning Making/Making Meaning :: In Corpore Sano presents Lia Pas outlines the way my creative practice has changed since becoming ill with ME/CFS in 2015 and has a number of my embroidery pieces as illustrations.
Amanda Glassman has written an outline of the online series titled Hello to IN CORPORE SANO :: Creative Practice & the Challenged* Body :: a web & print:document series .
Also, Written Over :: In Corpore Sano Presents Jill Khoury, a set of poems and prompts, is illustrated by another of my anatomy embroidery pieces.
There will be weekly excerpts published on Medium for the next few months, so please visit the In Corpore Sano Medium page for more writing and images on the challenged body as they are published.
US addresses can pre-order the print anthology for a discounted price here, but Canadian addresses will need to wait until the anthology is published in March or April to order a copy.
I have reached a point in my recovery from ME/CFS that means I am able to write again! ME/CFS is a neuro-immune disease and some of the symptoms include brain fog and cognitive fatigue. When I first got ill in 2015 I was unable to read or write for any length of time because it would utterly exhaust me. I’m very happy to say that I can now read and write with relative ease again.
Most of my writing these days is in the form of journaling, but earlier this year I submitted some of my embroidery work to an anthology about “challenged bodies” and creative work. As part of the In Corpore Sano anthology I was asked to write about my experience of being a creative person living with a debilitating illness and wrote a fairly long essay about that as well as the autobiographical and therapeutic nature of my embroidery work. Continue reading
There will be a Saskatoon launch of GUSH: menstrual manifestos for our times (edited by Tanis MacDonald, Rosanna Deerchild, and Ariel Gordon with me as one of the contributors) at McNally Robinson on July 17, 2018, at 7pm.
This Saskatoon launch for the Frontenac House multi-genre anthology of writing about menstruation by more than 100 menstruators and former menstruators will feature readings by five of the contributors: Erica Violet Lee, Jeanette Lynes, Yvette Nolan, Brenda Schmidt, and co-editor Tanis MacDonald. All are welcome to attend! This is one of several launch events for the #bloodygreat anthology that are happening across Canada this year.
I was recently featured in Synaesthesia magazine as their artist of the month. The piece focuses on the embroidery work I’ve done to illustrate my ME/CFS symptoms.
I was also the rocur (rotating curator) of @IAmSciArt on Twitter for a week in November and you can see more of my embroidery here (though these links will only work until May 2018). There are two threads, one on anatomy-themed embroideries, and the other on my symptomatology embroideries.
I’m currently working on a large anatomy-themed piece that you can check the progress on my Instagram.
Healthwise, I’m very slowly improving after a bit of a downturn in the fall because of a stomach flu. I’m still mostly housebound but have been able to drive myself to a few appointments and attend a few family gatherings. If you want to know more about ME/CFS I recommend watching the documentary Unrest, which is on iTunes and Netflix.
Hello @IAmSciArt people! Here are things that I was unable to post directly to Twitter.
Portal Vein
Here’s a recording from my 2006 MA Devised Theatre performance at Dartington College of Arts, Devon, UK. The piece is 11 minutes long.
La Caravan Performs Fihi Ma Fihi at the Tabestoon Festival
2 pm Aug. 13, 2016
Theatre Junction Grand Calgary
La Caravan is thrilled to announce that we will be performing in this year’s Tabestoon Festival.
Performance will be Saturday, August 13 @ 2pm at Theatre Junction Grand.
This dance opera is a project I was still hard at work on when I became ill in August 2015. I’m pleased to say that La Caravan Dance Theatre continued the process despite me needing to attend to my health.
If you or anyone you know is in Calgary, please pass this information on to them.
A lovely article in the Calgary Herald.
Kindred spirits Lewandowsky met the production’s composer, Lia Pas, in a workshop at the Banff Centre. The two discovered that they both were fans of Rumi’s work. Pas composed the music to fit the poetry. “It’s not Middle Eastern, it’s not a Far-East kind of sound,” says Lewandowsky. Instead, it’s contemporary, blending the classical with electronic music. “(Lia) can breach between the two worlds unbelievably.”
Another great article on GetDown.ca:
Lia Pas has taken 13 poems by Rumi and created a musical composition and libretto. The company then “experimented in the studio with the lyrics,” Lewandowsky explains. “We saw what sounds would come and we performed different exercises.” The company improvised as well as they worked through the poetry and created a narrative around the poetry. Some poetry was expressed purely through movement and some through singing and musical composition.
La Caravan Dance Theatre Presents World Premiere of Fihi Ma Fihi (It Is What It Is)
New artistic work draws inspiration from 13th century Sufi mystic and philosopher Rumi
Calgary AB – La Caravan Dance Theatre presents the world premiere of Fihi Ma Fihi (It Is What It Is) at Theatre Junction Grand, June 8-11, 2016. Tickets range from $40 – $75 and can be purchased at lacaravan.com.
The short version:
– I am still ill with whatever hit me August 2015. Ill with severe fatigue, paresthesias (tingling — mine without numbness), and myalgias (muscular pain).
– I do not have a diagnosis. I have a few theories from various doctors, but no real diagnosis.
– I am still unable to do my usual work: voice teaching, singing, piano playing, composition.
– I am slightly better than I was, and there are theories for that as well.
The long version:
I’m excited to announce that my composition a small piece of sky will be performed at the Ritornello Chamber Music Festival in Saskatoon on 30 May 2015.
The festival runs from 29-31 May at three different venues. Carissa Kolopoushak and Jaqueline Woods have been producing this festival for seven years and always have an exciting lineup featuring a number of local musicians as well as musicians who have grown up in Saskatchewan and studied and worked around the world.
Continue reading