Watch Now
Artist Statement
Having spent much of 2020 in deep reflection, I found it comforting and necessary to create an art piece centered around connecting with my inner child. As a way to work through some difficult childhood memories, I decided to give myself the chance to engage in activities that I fantasized about as a child but was not allowed to because of my perceived "gender". Growing up in a transphobic society was far less than ideal for a little me with big dreams of wearing tutus and having tea parties. Luckily, I have the ability to right those wrongs now. To accompany the visuals, I wrote a song about having my own back when times get rough. I know that a younger version of myself was quite conflicted when friends, families and lovers hurt her, so these lyrics serve as a reminder that a safe place exists inside her soul.
Biography
Davia Spain is a performance artist, musician and filmmaker born and raised in California. She harnesses Afro-future themes of time travel, multi-dimensionality and circular time theory to imagine new possibilities for this physical plane. Her education in music, dance and acting started in high school and continued through college until she started working in San Francisco. Over the past five years, Spain has performed at A.C.T., The Strand, REDCAT, The Broad Museum, CounterPulse and more. She has shown work across the U.S. and internationally performing in Montreal, Canada and Mexico City, Mexico.
Curated by The Women's Center for Creative Work
Curator's Statement
"Over the past year, WCCW, like many arts and community centers, has had to meet the challenge of bringing our programming from a physical space into a digital one. When it came to selecting the artists and work to feature here, we wanted to create a process that would bring the same kind of community warmth as past events in our physical space, and that would provide a showcase of more than just three artists selected by us—because, as this project continues to bring to light, L.A. is bursting with smart, thoughtful, thrilling artists, making work that changes us. It also felt important that we invite our community to help us make those choices. So, we made an open call for proposals and hosted a digital event that we called L.A.'s Feminist Idol to show the proposals to the public. WCCW judges, Kamala Puligandla and Mandy Harris Williams, selected two projects and the third was selected by viewers.
Davia Spain has created a lush music video and ethereal original song that open up a world of safe feminine freedom and play."
