KEVIN FRASER
Kevin Fraser is a Queer Jamaican born international interdisciplinary artist and Creative Director, currently based on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and the Treaty 7 region of southern Alberta, and also works on the the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Although his practice has been primarily based in dance and movement arts, Kevin also explores/implements/studies various art mediums to aid in the research and creation of new work such as; Film, Photography, Theatre, Voice, Creative Writing, Fashion, Music, and Media. He has a deep interest in the merging of various art mediums to compel and excavate truths, as well as finding new methods and modalities in which various artforms/mediums intertwine, coexist , and shape new pathways for creation, curiosity, and exploration. His passion is to create work that is inclusive of: BIPOC, LGBTQ-2, WOC, and underserved/underrepresented communities, but also sheds light on the complexities of how colonial power structures have shaped the way we see, encounter, collide, and hold space for one another as; artists, creative collaborators, and diverse human beings with layered complex histories and intersections.
With a deep interest in exploring the collision and morphing of various Combinations of artforms, he/they utilize movement/dance, theatre, film, photography, fashion, digital and new media implications, as well as music to Create and give shape and life to his/their work. Kevin has been a guest lecturer at; The Richmond Art Gallery, and Simon Fraser University. As a film and creative director, Kevin has had the opportunity to direct movement and conceptualize promotional and indie content and art that spans across different genres and mediums.
Kevin has directed/assisted in creative direction of lens-based work for; Lululemon Athletica, Nemesis Coffee, Native Shoes, Absolut Vodka, as well as many music videos for local, national, and international musicians. His own work, via his creative vessel, the Art Direction and film Production company “Of Wraiths and Vagabonds” (formally Immigrant Lessons), has been presented and witnessed in Vancouver and the surrounding area, nationally (Calgary, Toronto), and Internationally ( New York City, Los Angeles, Manila). Kevin’s work and collaborations have been presented at; Emily Carr University (Libby Leshgold Galley), Vancouver International Childrens Festival (commissioned artist), Dancing On The Edge Contemporary Dance Festival (Commissioned by DOTE), FORM (Festival of Recorded Movement), Fashion Art Toronto, RAW Artists: LA, Pedestrian Protest/ Vancouver Art Gallery (w/ Evann Siebens and Keith Doyle), BC Culture Days (commissioned by Co.Erasga), Springboard Performance (Calgary), Talking Stick Festival, Push Festival (Club Push), Vancouver Mural Festival, Vines Arts Festival, National Arts Centre (Tessel), Richmond Art Gallery (artist lecturer), Manila Fringe Festival, New Works Management and Presentation, and Granville Island Society. Print work and articles include; Moevir Paris Magazine, Feroce Magazine, Perjus Magazine, The Dance Current, and Creators Magazine to name a few.
Proposed Research
DID YOU BRING ALL YOUR MEMORIES WITH YOU?
“I have a deep interest in the merging of various art mediums to compel and strengthen myself and my artistic practice, projects, and work. I have been very intrigued by ideologies and concepts centered around; Transculturalism, Interculturalism, and Ethnography. I wish to explore what it means to extend through the vastness of human cultures and question notions of allegiance or difference. I want to examine how these differences uncover similarities in experience, and in turn what does it mean to be cradled in the wonderment of the pieces that make each of us whole and yet forever unfinished. Beyond flags, borders, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds…I’m curious about ways we can nuance and transcend rigid ideologies around cultural cross pollination and the kaleidoscope that is identity.
For this research residency, to which I am working with the phrase “ Did you Bring All of Your Memories With You?”, is research in a tri layered context. First, my desire is to further excavate various modalities of exploring the ways deeply intersectional identities inform movement and theatre research and practice. We will also be playing with the environment, world building, and how our surroundings, and the altering of, can inform and amplify narrative. We will also be looking at the body’s relationship to the lens and moving image. We will be exploring the specificity of Immigrant Identities within the framework of performance dance research, that ignites curiosity around creating new devised ways of theatre practice, research, collaboration. This research also seeks to investigate identity through an anthropological lens, using memory and oral histories, socio political examinations of identity and otherness, and excavating embodied movement that invites the entirety of one’s journey in movement. For this research I will be collaborating with artists, Filipino – Canadian Dance Artist Reymark Capacete and Colombian Dance Artist Juanita Garzon.”
PHOTO OF Reymark Capacete and Juanita Garzon