About Boy mother / faceless bloom

We are in the final stretch before presenting our collaborative work Boy mother / faceless bloom at On The Boards on December 12-14. We thought that we would share some background on the piece, the themes and ideas and people that make it up. This can serve as an entry way and provide some insights into the wild portal that is this work. This very special collaboration brings together the work of artist Senga Nengudi (Colorado) and musician/performer yuniya edi kwon (New York) with the two leaders of Degenerate Art Ensemble; Haruko Crow Nishimura and Joshua Kohl under the collaborative group name JUNI ONE SET.

Boy mother / faceless bloom is a shared dreamscape that holds space for multiple dreamers, embraces diverse mythologies (both remembered and invented), listens to ancestral echoes, engaging all of these elements with a spirit of endless play and moves with both care and defiance.

To this frame, Korean American violinist, composer, and interdisciplinary performance artist yuniya edi kwon brought both a mythology of her own invention, as well as a connection to a lineage of queer-trans Korean shamanic practitioners. yuniya draws from Western classical, American experimental, and improvisational violin techniques, and extends the instrument to encompass and interpret the sounds of Korean shamanic music. Through the transformations of her fluid mythological characters, Boy mother / faceless bloom traces the path of yuniya's own real-life transformations toward queer-trans freedom, motherhood, and embodied actualization.

Japanese immigrant dancer and vocalist Haruko Crow Nishimura brought the story of the Japanese Sun Goddess Amaterasu to Boy mother / faceless bloom. In this episode of Japanese Shinto mythology, the Sun Goddess, enraged by the misbehavior of her brother, shut herself in a cave, plunging the world into darkness. The various Gods enlisted Okame (Ame No Uzume Mikoto), goddess of dawn, mirth, meditation, revelry and the arts to lure Amaterasu from her cave. Her wild alluring dance (said to be the birth of taiko drumming) piqued the curiosity of the Sun Goddess, and when she peeked out of the cave, Okame reflected the Goddess’ brilliant light in a mirror. Amaterasu, seeing her own magnificence for the first time, emerged from the cave and brought light back to the rejoicing Earth.

Senga Nengudi is an eminent African American sculptor and performer. Her work transforms everyday and castaway materials into dynamic abstract sculptural universes. In Boy mother / faceless bloom, Senga also reaches back to her ancestors, beginning with the honoring of her mother and her late husband’s mother, who both fought so that their children would be able to let their light shine in the world. She honors these mothers as Oshun, Yoruba Goddess Spirit of the River and Yemaya, Goddess Spirit of the Ocean.

Joshua Kohl, a Jewish and European composer, musician and producer, worked in collaboration with the team from the start to facilitate the production, create music and soundscapes, and oversee the stage design.

These stories, characters and visions were brewed together over a period of four years of conversation, play, friendship and deep work to create Boy mother / faceless bloom. This collaborative piece exists as a cosmic landscape in which the performers embody multiple characters and take on ceremonial practitioner roles. We invite you to experience this dream with us.

Joining these four artists in the work’s creation are Degenerate Art Ensemble’s video artist Leo Mayberry, lighting designer Jessica Trundy, and costumer Willow Fox.

Tickets for the show are available HERE!