KROPP / BODY / CUERPO
2022 - ongoing
2022 - ongoing
KROPP / BODY / CUERPO is a primarily photographic series of site-specific land art. Inspired by Ana Mendieta’s ‘siluetas’ series, I began creating my own silhouettes using the natural materials found in Kjerringøy, where my grandfather was born. I am the fourth generation of Tverbakk’s on that land (called Tverrbakkan) and have spent time there each year since birth; I am deeply connected to the landscape. The mountains, waters, and trees have all grown and changed alongside me, and have also witnessed my transformation over time. By creating these human-shaped silhouettes, I explore how my human body, and the body in general, is in relationship to the land.
This series of photographs makes visible our ephemerality and insists that we humans see ourselves in the landscape. To save our only home and its resources, we must see ourselves as part of the land, and the land as part of us.
The silhouettes are roughly the size of my body and are portraits of the landscape. I use seashells, algae, branches, stones, and soil that reside there to arrange the easily recognizable form of the human body. I began this work in 2023 and when I returned in 2024, I traveled back to these sites to photograph the silhouettes in their return to the earth. This series is ongoing.
EQUILIBRIA is a solo performance written and performed by ESO MALFLOR,
directed by Marcela Michelle, and produced by Lightning Rod for Q-Stage 2023. Live violins by Arlo Sombor and Creeping Charlie. Set design by ESO MALFLOR.
11.11.2023
Red Eye Theater
Minneapolis, MN
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THE EARTH IS A BODY
/ IN TRANSITION /
WATER, AIR, HEAT, SOIL
/ A CORPOREAL ENTITY OF MANY ELEMENTS / FUNCTION IN COLLABORATION /
TO SUSTAIN LIFE.
THE BODY IS AN EARTH
/ IN TRANSITION /
ORGANS, WATER, BLOOD, BONES, TISSUE, MUSCLES / IN CONSTANT SEARCH OF EQUILIBRIUM /
TO SUSTAIN LIFE.
A BODY IS NOT NEUTRAL
/ A BODY IS IN CONSTANT EXPERIENCE /
A BODY KNOWS
EVEN WHEN THE BRAIN DOES NOT.
A BODY IS A VESSEL THAT HOLDS
/ MEMORY / STRESS / ANTICIPATION / TRAUMA / LOVE /
ELONGATED SHIFTS /
DE LA TIERRA EMERJO Y A LA TIERRA VUELVO / FRA JORDEN DUNKER JEG OPP OG TIL JORDEN KOMMER JEG TILBAKE.
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EQUILIBRIA is a one-person performance in which the artist wears “blinding” contacts while traversing a clay landscape on the stage. Two violinists sit at the far corners facing away from each other and perform a 15 second phrase on loop; as one stops, the other begins. From a clay mound the artist emerges, in search of stable ground. The music stops and voice-over audio of short clips of prose in Spanish, English, and Norwegian, are scattered throughout the soundscape in between violins, droplets of water, and gasps of breath. MALFLOR makes their way, on all fours, towards a clay pedestal framed by two column-like vessels, with a bowl of water in front. The artist covers themself with clay as much as possible, first starting at the feet to solidify their place, and slowly moving their way up the body. Their movement comes to a stop and for 30 minutes, they stand still, allowing the clay to dry. Slowly, they break their stillness and begin breaking out of the dried earth. They stumble onto the landscape, all the while still searching with the eyes, head, and hands. They make their way back to the clay mound, disintegrating as they travel. The performance ends in a black out and the artist remains in the mound until the audience has exited.
PRODUCTION TEAM
Executive Artistic Director: Marcela Michelle
Artistic Co-Director: Keila Anali Saucedo
Stage Manager: Connor Berkompas
Assistant Stage Manager: Simone Bernadette Williams
Lighting Designer: VON
Sound Designer: Eric Gonzalez
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Q-STAGE is a Twin Cities queer performance mainstay that has supported and showcased exciting new work from queer artists living and working here on Mni Sota Makoce since 2013. This year’s cohort was selected by Executive Artistics Director and former Q-Stage fellow Marcela Michelle, and features new work from Johanna Keller Flores, Atim Opoka, and MALFLOR.
Lightning Rod is a QTPOC-led arts organism dedicated to the Legacy, Development, and Opportunities of Queer, Trans, and Gender Non-Conforming artists and activists creating culture in the Twin Cities.
directed by Marcela Michelle, and produced by Lightning Rod for Q-Stage 2023. Live violins by Arlo Sombor and Creeping Charlie. Set design by ESO MALFLOR.
11.11.2023
Red Eye Theater
Minneapolis, MN
-
THE EARTH IS A BODY
/ IN TRANSITION /
WATER, AIR, HEAT, SOIL
/ A CORPOREAL ENTITY OF MANY ELEMENTS / FUNCTION IN COLLABORATION /
TO SUSTAIN LIFE.
THE BODY IS AN EARTH
/ IN TRANSITION /
ORGANS, WATER, BLOOD, BONES, TISSUE, MUSCLES / IN CONSTANT SEARCH OF EQUILIBRIUM /
TO SUSTAIN LIFE.
A BODY IS NOT NEUTRAL
/ A BODY IS IN CONSTANT EXPERIENCE /
A BODY KNOWS
EVEN WHEN THE BRAIN DOES NOT.
A BODY IS A VESSEL THAT HOLDS
/ MEMORY / STRESS / ANTICIPATION / TRAUMA / LOVE /
ELONGATED SHIFTS /
DE LA TIERRA EMERJO Y A LA TIERRA VUELVO / FRA JORDEN DUNKER JEG OPP OG TIL JORDEN KOMMER JEG TILBAKE.
-
EQUILIBRIA is a one-person performance in which the artist wears “blinding” contacts while traversing a clay landscape on the stage. Two violinists sit at the far corners facing away from each other and perform a 15 second phrase on loop; as one stops, the other begins. From a clay mound the artist emerges, in search of stable ground. The music stops and voice-over audio of short clips of prose in Spanish, English, and Norwegian, are scattered throughout the soundscape in between violins, droplets of water, and gasps of breath. MALFLOR makes their way, on all fours, towards a clay pedestal framed by two column-like vessels, with a bowl of water in front. The artist covers themself with clay as much as possible, first starting at the feet to solidify their place, and slowly moving their way up the body. Their movement comes to a stop and for 30 minutes, they stand still, allowing the clay to dry. Slowly, they break their stillness and begin breaking out of the dried earth. They stumble onto the landscape, all the while still searching with the eyes, head, and hands. They make their way back to the clay mound, disintegrating as they travel. The performance ends in a black out and the artist remains in the mound until the audience has exited.
PRODUCTION TEAM
Executive Artistic Director: Marcela Michelle
Artistic Co-Director: Keila Anali Saucedo
Stage Manager: Connor Berkompas
Assistant Stage Manager: Simone Bernadette Williams
Lighting Designer: VON
Sound Designer: Eric Gonzalez
-
Q-STAGE is a Twin Cities queer performance mainstay that has supported and showcased exciting new work from queer artists living and working here on Mni Sota Makoce since 2013. This year’s cohort was selected by Executive Artistics Director and former Q-Stage fellow Marcela Michelle, and features new work from Johanna Keller Flores, Atim Opoka, and MALFLOR.
Lightning Rod is a QTPOC-led arts organism dedicated to the Legacy, Development, and Opportunities of Queer, Trans, and Gender Non-Conforming artists and activists creating culture in the Twin Cities.
Photos by Nouf Saleh
Swell is a series of portraits of trans-masc individuals, printed in the subject’s own serous fluid, collected while in recovery from gender affirming top surgery.
Serous fluid is within all of us, lining the spaces in between our internal organs. Upon experiencing a physical trauma, this fluid swells up to protect the body. The long process of undergoing gender affirming surgery - from researching surgeons to initial consultations to recovery - is deeply entrenched in mutual aid among trans people. We care for one another, discuss our experiences within the medical industrial complex, feed each other, change each other’s bandages, measure the fluid draining out of our wounds. It is through transition that we find ourselves and each other.
This series is ongoing.
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ESO MALFLOR is a fiscal year 2024 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Serous fluid is within all of us, lining the spaces in between our internal organs. Upon experiencing a physical trauma, this fluid swells up to protect the body. The long process of undergoing gender affirming surgery - from researching surgeons to initial consultations to recovery - is deeply entrenched in mutual aid among trans people. We care for one another, discuss our experiences within the medical industrial complex, feed each other, change each other’s bandages, measure the fluid draining out of our wounds. It is through transition that we find ourselves and each other.
This series is ongoing.
-
ESO MALFLOR is a fiscal year 2024 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
