‘Am I Write, Ladies?’ Showcases Work by Female and Gender Non-Conforming Artists

Miriam Mosher

@WildMuscadine

Nothing says Bushwick art scene like storytelling by a genderqueer ex-nun, except, possibly, vaginal explorations, dance rituals, and 400 eggs smashed onto one body. Expect all of the above and more at ‘Am I Write, Ladies?’ a recurring series showcasing new and developing work by women and gender non-conforming artists. Each show has a theme and tonight’s show at The Footlight will focus on autobiography.

Hosted and curated by Cassidy Dawn Graves and Nikki Vega, the show has garnered praise and coverage in the past with mentions from Brokelyn, FlavorPill and from us here at Bushwick Daily.

Cassidy Dawn Graves created the event in 2014 as a “safe yet well-curated space where artists working in various disciplines can experiment and try new things, as well as meet new artists and friends.” Graves is a renaissance woman, writing and creating across disciplines. She has made it a point to create an event that is open to artistic expression in its many forms from storytelling to ukulele songs and video art.

The show doesn’t shy away from the explicit and has featured work in the past, such as the piece from Stephanie Guedallia, “Do Not Enter,” which uses nudity and shock value to explore such terrain as rape culture, consent and the idea of “asking for it.”

Meet The Artists:

Tonight’s show will feature work from Kelli Dunham a self-described ex-nun genderqueer nurse storytelling nerd comic so common in modern Brooklyn. Kelli will be telling a story eye-catchingly entitled “Fisting Sarah Palin.”

Dunham describes Fisting Sarah Palin as “a story about what happens when a biggole urban dwelling queer comic goes on grassroots tour through the rural Southern States via Megabus and discovers the Conservative Christian Million Mom’s Conference is taking over Birmingham Alabama on the same weekend Kelli is slated to perform.” 

Emma Howard, a writer, performer and aspiring clown will present “a brief history of my eating disorder.” 

Zoey Hart will be showing “Empathy Channels and Subtle Imperfections,” a small collection of embroidered prints from a series of CT scan images printed onto muslin.

Hart descries “Empathy Channels” as representing “catharsis, connection, and creative escape from the misadventures of chronic illness.”

The event will also feature visual artists including Christine Stoddard who was recently featured on Bedford + Bowery.  Her “Forget Fairytales” comics “explore the grotesque reality of the modern feminist experience.” In keeping with the multidisciplinary theme, there will be video installations as well. Ana Valdés, will be showing :::-:: (6 – 4), a video project that “visually and audibly exposes the use of women as metaphorical dart boards for male aggression in concordance with the romanticization of sexual violence.”

See these artists and more tonight! 

Cover photo by Lindsay Skedgell.

All images courtesy of Am I Write, Ladies?