Javier Stell-Fresquez (Chican@, Tigua & Piro Native), Ivan “Ivy” Monteiro (Brasil), and Davia Amerasu Spain (San Francisco Bay Area native), compose a trinity of young, fierce, POC femme artists. Our collective expertise spans theater, sound and video production, dance, and organizing, as well as drag, among other forms that our queer ancestors developed in queer nightlife spaces, and backyard family barbecues.
Applying intersectional and intertribal methods, we set our triune gaze on the landfill that is our present society. Holding up umbilical and ancestral knowledge as we decolonize the future, our very existence and emergent voices defy neocolonialism, white supremacy, and patriarchy.
©Yvonne M. Portra
Mother The Verb is a Queer/Trans performance dance, produced and created by Ivan Monteiro (Brasil), Javier Stell-Fresquez (Chican@ originally from El Paso, Tigua & Piro Native), and Davia Amerasu Spain (San Francisco Bay Area native), a trinity of young, fierce, POC femmes fucking up post-colonialism, white supremacy and patriarchy one breath at a time. This trinity will be making a new experimental performance piece exploring the glorification and damnation of our many mothers, asking how we can transcend the toxins flowing in our bodies and societies.
Follow their progress and community work at Facebook.com/MotherTheVerb
#NotABugSplat A little girl’s face stares towards the clouds in a meadow, a place where drones fly as often as the birds. Her face covers a massive portrait printed by a group of artist-activists as part of an installation titled #NotABugSplat. Since 2004, drone strikes in Pakistan have killed over 3,000 people, including a large […]
The Tenderloin Art Lending Library (TALL) is a queer-artist-run project that lends artwork to Tenderloin community members free-of-charge. TALL is a trust-based program where artists—the majority of whom are homeless, formerly homeless, and live or work in the Tenderloin—donate artwork that is available for loan to any member of the Tenderloin community free-of-charge. TALL is […]
Journey for Wisdom and Empowerment A key part of my artistic process for “Metamorphosis” is to connect with nature and my indigenous Peruvian roots through shamanic dance to invoke healing and strength. Shot by Life Escobar. Directed and performed by Mabel Valdiviezo Una parte clave de mi proceso artístico para “Metamorfosis” es conectarme con la […]
A Reflection from CounterPulse’s former Development & Engagement Fellow Leaving the academic world can be jarring for most people. It’s incredibly easy to feel aimless and misdirected without an imposed colonized structure thrust upon you for the first time ever. As a recent college graduate from a “socially conscious” Jesuit university, I’m lucky to […]
A wise woman drums to the four directions of the earth Tum, tum, tum, tum, tum She calls the ancestral spirits of the land, water, air, fire And begins to teach me the way to journey There I am, as ancient as her Yet, afraid of my power Alchemy comes to my aid And […]