ARTIST STATEMENT

I am and always have been a maker.  Captivated by the whim, magic, and melancholy of the human experience, I aim to hold up a mirror to the society we form and participate in, to the communities and cultures we identify ourselves with, and lastly to the tremendous and unique experiences that form us as individuals. Our guts, instincts, weakness, power, voice that we do or don’t find, and our numerous attempts to relate, drive me—I believe in the physicality of what makes us inevitably, catastrophically, heartbreakingly, and wonderfully human.

Blending dance forms, blending artistic mediums, I questioned how could I bring honesty, personality, and unabashed humanness into dance and art. With roots as an African American woman from the south, I have always been aware of the displacement of colored bodies and our continuous seeking for identity and community. Always out of place, and never agreeing to be defined as one thing or one idea, I came closer to my own identity in things that I love.

Inspired by content, meaning, feeling, and movement, I strive to relate and transport through the work. The camera in photography and film allows you to translate the human experience through perspective and helps to build the intimacy and meaning I long for. I aim to be inclusive building a bridge for the audience to connect, imagine, and reflect. Utilizing screenwriting, specific movement studies, writing, photography, and narrative, I share my experience and hope to share a spectrum of the experiences of the others around me.

Forming live dance works, portrait and street/documentary photography, music videos, dance films, and narrative films, my work conjures greater representation, greater spectrum of individuals, and does not hide from what we are.

ABOUT KAYLA

Kayla Farrish is NY based dancer, choreographer, director, and photographer. She is a North Carolina native born into a dance-loving family. In 2013, she graduated from the University of Arizona summa cum laude, and was awarded the Gertrude Shurr Award for excellence in modern dance and passionate dancing. Since moving to New York, she has freelanced with various artists and companies including Punchdrunk Sleep No More NYC, Kyle Abraham/Abraham. In. Motion, Kate Weare Company, Helen Simoneau Danse, Rashuan Mitchell/Silas Reiner, Aszure Barton and Artists, Madboots Dance, Nicole Von Arx, Danielle Russo Performance Project, Chris Masters Dance Company, Elena Vazintaris/Dance Projects and others.  

Both independently and through companies, she has worked as a rehearsal assistant and teaching artist, instructing at various programs including University of NC School of the Arts, University of the Arts, The Juilliard School, NYU Tisch Dance Program, and local dance organizations and studios, and beyond.