i carry your heart

i carry your heart

i carry your heart was created over the past two years.  The original proposal I made to Theatre Projects when they approached me about being a part of their upcoming Chautauqua tour was that I wanted to research the theme of isolation and its effect on the body.  Two months later a global pandemic hit the world, and the research I proposed took on a very different meaning.  While this piece is not about COVID, it cannot be separated from it.  We have all been deeply affected by this experience.  As an artist I love to work in collaboration with others.  The process is as important as the product.  Learning to make art in a time when we could not sit together, play together, share together was challenging, and in the beginning, often lonely.  It has been a gift to find innovative ways to continue to connect with an artistic community on this piece.  I carry your heart was created through letter-writing, on-line workshops, late night phone calls, drives up and down many highways, on the water, in the city, over glasses of lemonade in back yards. It was created in collaboration with so many amazing artists from the Interlake and Winnipeg, who so generously and gently shared their stories and gifts with me. While I am so pleased to be able to share this work with you as a film adaptation of the final piece, there is a tiny grief in its completion.  It became very clear in my research that community is the antidote to isolation, and I am grateful for the medicine this community has been for me.”

I carry your heart was made in collaboration with Penny Helgason, Sage Stoyanowski, Merle Klyne, Patsy Klyne, Judith McCudden, Morgan Olsen, Darwin Baker, Emily Solstice Tait, Tanner Mason, Ellen Grace Friesen, Arne MacPherson, and Sandra Stuart.

Special thanks to Catherine, Kristine, Linda, Jan, Marvin, and the men’s morning coffee group in Steep Rock, MB.

And to the incredible team at Theatre Projects Manitoba for providing me with unending support and encouragement.