SHION

Piecing together the footage that Miya and I have captured for our collaborative film has been really fun so far. I look forward to continuing the video editing process, and exchanging ideas with Miya along the way as we play with various methods of digital experimentation on video.

MIYA

I made new half-masks for Shion and I to work with for our video collaboration, which is fitting for us both since we are similarly half japanese/ half white. And the coolest thing happened- instead of mailing her the masks across Canada, I gave them to her in-person! Shion travelled to Halifax for a dance performance, a one night show of ‘YingYun’ (Wen Wei Dance), and we met for the 1st time! We only had a couple of hours together before her performance but we were able to film ourselves with some masks during our brief visit for our project. It was amazing!

SHION

Miya and I linked our movement research by filming short scenes in front of the Pacific and Atlantic ocean in BC and Nova Scotia, respectively. Stills from each of our videos were lined up side by side, aligning the horizon line of the oceans. I’m so grateful to have connected with Miya through this collaboration, and to have made a new lifelong friend.

MIYA

Still images taken from video layered of me and Shion by the ocean, both faraway on opposite coasts of Canada. Our bodies are like echoes, only coming into clear view when overlapped by the other. The sky, waves and beach are layered composites of the Atlantic and Pacific.

MIYA

The new mask I made of Shion using the plaster cast of her face and from photos she sent me. Even the inside of the mask is covered so she has options how she uses the mask in performance. It’s been mailed off to her cross country!

SHION

My first time playing with my mask!

The mask that Miya handmade and sent to me from Halifax arrived last week and as soon as I took it out of the box, I had a burst of new movement ideas I wanted to try. I am in awe of the detailed work that Miya puts into each and every mask she creates; in this movement exploration I wanted to capture some of the minute gestures evoked by all of the tiny pieces of paper that are cut and glued to make this unique, one-of-a-kind mask. I also explored aspects of video editing that Miya and I have been researching as part of our collaboration.

SHION

Miya and I have been brainstorming ways to connect our embodied movement to each other, across the 5,000+ kilometre distance between Halifax and Vancouver where we respectively reside. In our creative conversations, our shared access to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans came up, which led to the idea of each of us filming ourselves moving by the seaside and experimenting with connecting the videos side-by-side through editing. This visual is a minimal improvisation of gestures masking the face, is my contribution of research to this concept even before the mask of my face is made. 

It was incredibly grounding to dance at the edge of the Pacific Ocean, at Wickaninnish Beach on Vancouver Island, BC on the traditional territories of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations. 

MIYA

I received Shion’s plaster bandage face cast in the mail. She was very brave to do this-it’s not easy! Once I had this in my hands, I mixed up some plaster and filled the cast she made. I now have a replica of Shion’s face to make masks on that will perfectly fit her face and look like her. As you can see in the photo, the cast she sent me is now destroyed, but it served its purpose well.

SHION

MIYA

MIYA
Jaw-Drop is a new work-in-progress, trying out a new movement piece with my masks. The idea came directly out of the first brainstorm chat with Shion-she could envision my chin-masks dropping down, held together somehow, so I set to work trying out different ideas

SHION
“Here is a short poem with snippets from my initial creative conversations with Miya. We’ll take inspiration from these words and concepts as we dive into this collaboration”