Welcome~ I’m J9, a multimedia artist and writing professional trained in the nuances of metaphor and the [wo]man-handling of culture and technology.
I create stories & storytelling environments that provide imaginative alternatives to traditional print, audio, video, and electronic outlets. I work across mediums and media, tailoring stories to the materials they lend themselves to, be it breath, bits, pixels or paper. I work to create a moment of pause and reflection–an awareness of our stories and the power they wield to connect and cut between us–particularly in public spaces.
I believe storytelling to be the oldest and strongest foundation of community–the most important ingredient in fostering active and empathetic engagement. Storytelling, as opposed to story, is a verb that denotes action. As a media artist, I am drawn to this action–the way we tell our stories–and how those means affect our experience. With each story I ask what this story might look like as a tangible entity and how physical interaction might elevate and personalize the experience, bridging nuances of one’s physical expression with those of language.
Clients and partners include the NYC Parks Department, the NY Department of Sanitation, NYU, the NY Hall of Science, Potion Design, and Wilkinson Public Library. My work has been supported by grants & sponsorship from the Kellogg Foundation, Helly Hansen, Crazy Creek, the Colorado College President’s Fund and the Venture Fund, sending me from the Alaskan Arctic, across the American West, and out to the shores of Hawaii.
Before earning my Masters from the Interactive Telecommunications Department (ITP) at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, I directed programming for Wilkinson Public Library in Telluride, Colorado, taught for the Berkeley Unified School District, and lectured widely on performance poetry. I hold a BA in Creative Writing in Poetry from the Colorado College, where my first collection of poetry, Waiting for the Moon, was published by the Press in 2005. Poetry & nonfiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Anderbo.com, Nectar Magazine, the Leviathan, Colorado Libraries, and the Cipher and I’ve performed at Talking Gourds Poetry Festival, the San Francisco Poetry Slam, the Starry Plough, and the Bowery Poetry Club. My installations & exhibits have been shown at the New York Hall of Science, the World Science Fair, and the ITP Winter and Spring Shows at Tisch in New York City.
A native of San Francisco’s East Bay, I live in Park Slope and work in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
