I’m thrilled to collaborate again with Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya on her installation, Islands in the Sea. I’ve composed a semi-improvised score for sarunay, 8 voices, and electronics, and will perform with my ensemble, Sugar Vendil/Isogram.
This participatory installation is a part of GATHER: A series of monuments and rituals
Artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya transforms the Paul Milstein Reflecting Pool into a site that honors the grieving process. Nine sculptures serve as beacons of reflection, lighting a path forward from losses that so many of us have suffered in the last few years. With this installation, visitors engage in a ritual reminiscent of Loi Krathong, a celebrated Thai festival of gratitude, forgiveness, and respect. Participants are invited to release a floating vessel to carry away their burdens, worries, or grief gently into the pool. Each vessel reflects the sky as it drifts along the water, forming a flotilla of shared struggle. The installation serves as a gentle reminder that while grief never fully leaves us, we can temper sorrow by embracing the many forms that grief and healing may take.
Sugar Vendil/Isogram
Sugar Vendil, Artistic Director & Performer
Grace Aki, Performer
Chris Ignacio, Performer
Muyassar Kurdi, Performer
Cindy Galvis-Lan, Performer
Thea Little, Performer
JuYoung Ma, Performer
Veronica Mak, Performer
Linda McBride, Performer
About the Performers
Grace Aki is an actor, playwright, and visual artist.
Chris Ignacio is a NY-based performer and educator originally from San Antonio, TX. He recently was a puppeteer for The Met's Madama Butterfly and is currently pursuing his MFA at Arizona State University, in Theatre/Interdisciplinary Digital Media.
Muyassar Kurdi is a New York City-based interdisciplinary artist. Her work encompasses sound art, extended vocal technique, performance art, movement, analog photography and film. She has toured extensively in the U.S. and throughout Europe. She currently focuses her attention to interweaving homemade electronic instruments into her vocal and dance performances, stirring a plethora of emotions from her audience members through vicious noise, ritualistic chants, and meditative movements.