thirdspacearts

Identity is the history that has gone into bone and blood and reshaped the flesh.  Identity is not what we were but what we have become, what we are at this moment.  - Nick Joaquín

I am a first generation South Asian Pacific Islander American of Filipino and Indian descent, a cisgender able-bodied woman, a survivor of violent trauma, a US citizen, the daughter of immigrants navigating privilege and discrimination in a society that sees me as a perpetual foreigner, a descendant of healers, a working mother to mixed race children in a society that will persecute them for who they are and who they choose to love, an activist whose professional practice involves the visual, performative and culinary arts as a vehicle for disruption, solidarity, healing, and care, an educator and social practitioner dedicated to working with young people in the fight against discrimination and the creation of a society that is equitable, and an artist and scholar in terms not defined by a white, colonial, patriarchal, academic system, but by women storytellers, cultural weavers and social framers. 

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Through my work I seek to create third spaces as a form of healing justice

in my community.  These spaces exist in between and outside of the 'norm' and

utilize the arts to center stories that are often silenced or go unheard.

What is Third Space Arts?

Third Space Arts is an evolving archive of my practice as an artist, educator, art therapist, and activist.  Many of the projects and initiatives that I am involved with are in collaboration with fellow artists, makers and healers, grassroots movements, local community groups and arts organizations.  These efforts take physical, virtual, and even metaphorical form, but they all center on art as a vehicle for self-expression, fostering relationships, building community, and social change.  With a focus on elevating the work and amplifying the voices of people representing all expressions of identity - gender, sexuality, race, culture, ethnicity, ability, and social and economic status - third space arts is an intersection of identities and ideologies that serve to create spaces where people come together to engage in dialogue, harness the power of creativity, and build a more just community. 

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