Tara Rynders

In Residence: September 5 - October 21, 2011Performance: Thursday/Friday, October 20/21, 2011Exhibition continues through October 28Learning Labs: Joan Farley AcademyTara Rynders is an interdisciplinary video and dance artist who layers performance with visual art, remixed sound scores, spoken text, video, projection, site- specific performance and film.  She enjoys cross collaborating with various artists and disciplines as she discovers new worlds of movement and art that cannot exist alone. Through multiple mediums she explores narrative that allows the viewers to see themselves in, participate with, and connect to. During her residency she will explore themes of intimacy, loss, frailty and joy, utilizing improvisation in movement and performance as well as video pieces re-mixed from the footage. In Learning Labs, Tara will work with each student to create videos with movement, text and music that they can take home as a listing visual representation of them claiming or reclaiming their voice, their dance, their song. Check Tara's website and blog for updates, photos and videos during her residency. Read Westword story.Tara earned an MFA in dance with emphasis in performance and choreography and dance for camera and somatics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, a BSN in nursing, and a BFA in Spanish with a minor in nutrition.Artist Statement: ProcessI was chosen as one of five yearly artists to take up residency at PlatteForum, an organization that redefined what art in the community looks like. Please if you do not know about this organization please look at their website and know I am experiencing first hand how PlatteForum transforms lives through the arts.I was chosen by PlatteForum as a creative resident and was given seven weeks, seven teens, and as much space and support as an artist could ask for while being immersed in the process of creating a new piece. During this time I have created over seven short videos that reflect my time spent in the expansive studio of PlatteForum that sits directly adjacent to the railroad tracks. Everyday I have been inspired by the beauty, movement, and overall experience of sitting next to the tracks as trains barrel by in search of their next destination. I feel connected to the speed and movement of the train and when one train stays for a bit it has become the backdrop to many of my pieces forcing me to create quickly in the moment for at anytime my backdrop could leave and the piece will be over.I have also had the honor of working with teens from The Joan Farley Academy twice a week and together we created short videos for each teen as well as many live performances. The Joan Farley Academy is a residential treatment facility where the residential programs are licensed as Therapeutic Residential Child Care Facilities (TRCCFs). Each house/program provides round-the-clock supervision, intensive mental health treatment, and group therapy for a variety of issues, recreational activities, transportation, meal planning, independent living skills training, vocational & educational assistance, and more. Each program is a “regular house” in a “regular neighborhood.” These teens have experienced some of life’s worst moments and I feel so honored to be able to learn from them as together we have created “railroad stories” a live multimedia performance that shares our lives with you.This performance is truly one that I am thrilled to be apart of as I am so proud of how far each student from has grow through the process and how much they have had to overcome to participate in this performance. I am also so thankful for the time and space I have been given to create and explore life through new perspectives