A Garden in the Shape of Dreams

performance: 2019

film: 2021

A Garden delves into one of the most remarkable forms of creative play in childhood and the invention of imaginary worlds, often referred to as paracosms, inhabited by imaginary people or beings. My paracosm was constructed in the secrecy of my childhood hiding places, as a complex response to moments of abuse and trauma.

A Garden in the Shape of Dreams is part of the triptych Memoirs of a Disabled Child: The Real, the Imaginary, and the Misunderstood.

Medium: choreography, video art, installation.

Choreography

Running time: 30 minutes approximately

Stage Dimensions: variable

Credits

Choreography: Christopher "Unpezverde" Núñez

Audio Description script and narration: Christopher “Unpezverde” Núñez

Performers: Arantxa Araujo, Vanessa Vargas, Butch Merigoni, Mario Galeano, Michelle Mantione, Christopher “Unpezverde” Núñez

Designer, costumes and props: Branden C. Wallace

Videographer: Iki Nakagawa

Curators: Moriah Evans, Yve Laris Cohen

Photo credit: © Paula Court, 2019. Courtesy of The Kitchen. © Kathryn Butler, 2021. Courtesy of Performance Mix Festival.

Installation

Materials: Wooden boxes, crucifixes, volcanic rock statues, plastic dolls, paper dolls, old postcards, botanical prints, fabrics, loose pages from the book Identity: Youth and Crisis by Erik H. Erikson, photographs, engineering drawings, books on botanical medicine, artificial turf, Lego pieces, fishing flies, wool blanket.

Dimensions: Variable.

Photo credit: © Paula Court, 2019. Courtesy of The Kitchen. © Kathryn Butler, 2021. Courtesy of Performance Mix Festival.