Ocean Kin is presented in K'jipuktuk, Mi'kmaki: the unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq people. We are grateful to be visitors on this land to create art that seeks to soften our relationships to self, other and the earth.
about OCEAN KIN
Ocean Kin is a poetic shadow show contemplating our relationship to body and self inspired by the ecology of the sea otter. Three performers animate plexi-glass puppets, 3D sculptural props and projected illustrations behind a screen using flashlights and an overhead projector that is both mechanically complex and visually rich. The performance carries a loose narrative through words and an ethereal soundscape created by Halifax musician, Layia. Inviting the audience to surrender to their inner quiet, Ocean Kin is an emotive performance that is both aching and hopeful.
about THE TEAM
CREATOR j e i g h k k o y o t e
A personal history of shadow-making
and OCEAN KIN...
Jeighk (they/them) is a self-taught interdisciplinary artist based out of K’jipuktuk/Halifax, unceded Mi’kmaq Territory. Jeighk has poured themself into the making of this show - in varying capacities - since 2019. The work has taken shape through countless residencies starting with The Deanery Project (Ship Harbour, NS) in 2019, two visits to The Loft Residency at Mermaid Theatre (Windsor, NS), multiple studio work-terms at Wonder'neath Art Society (Halifax, NS), Halls Island Artist Residency (Haliburton, ON) and finishing the work at Ross Creek Centre for the Arts (Canning, NS). Jeighk received mentorship from Jan Peacock through the Visual Arts NS Mentorship Program in 2021/22 and self-directed mentorship from Laura Stinson and Ian McFarlane from North Barn Theatre in 2023/24.
The first shadow show Jeighk ever saw was called "Silence and the Earth" created and performed by Jess X Snow and beyon wren moor. The show was presented at an eviction party for Radsorm - a DIY arts space in Halifax, at the time on Falkland and Maynard - in 2012. This beautiful and tender performance had a profound impact on Jeighk for years to come.
In 2015, they started exploring shadow play in their living room with a sheet in a doorway. With a small group of friends who called themselves "The Shitty Art Collective", Jeighk hosted annual community shadow shows in their home presenting rehearsed work and improv with whoever attended (often standing room only). "The Witch's Child" was the first community shadow show on May Day in 2015, based on the zine "The Witch's Child" from unsettling america.
Jeighk comes from a family in Muskoka, Ontario who believes in them as an artist. Their first artistic inspiration was their sister, Dana Jorgensen. Jeighk's long time friend of brilliance, Stephanie Bailey and Dana have meticulously revised and edited every grant application Jeighk has ever written and received since 2019. There is no doubt, the work would not be possible without the generosity of the sharp literary skills and unwavering support from these two women. <3
Jeighk considers their shadow work very much rooted in visual art embodied through live performance. They are fussy with details and passionate about movement. They find themselves often returning to themes that are aching and tender.
Ocean Kin has felt like a long, not so linear, sometimes complicated making-journey that has been deeply personal to Jeighk over the last five years. They are so grateful for the opportunity to at last present this work at the Bus Stop Theatre on May 18-19, 2024 with the incredible team listed below.
CO-DIRECTOR i a n m c f a r l a n e
Ian McFarlane is a scenographer, a theatre maker and a puppeteer whose work expands on the disciplines of material performance, ecoscenography and sensory ethnography. Creating for the theatre, community advocacy and interdisciplinary collaboration, his practice fosters a fusion of landscape poetics, regenerative invention and performative alchemy.
Ian has worked with such companies as the Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry (Calgary, AB), Bread and Puppet Theater (Vermont), as well as co-founded Mudfoot Theatre (Calgary, AB). He received an MFA in Contemporary Art from Simon Fraser University and co-created North Barn Theatre where he has designed, created and performed several touring performances, films and public processions. Ian also serves as Director of Production for the River Clyde Pageant in New Glasgow, PEI as well as Resident Designer and Lecturer for Mount Allison's Drama and Screen Studies program.
CO-DIRECTOR m e g a n s t e w a r t
A director, producer, dramaturge, and performer, she seeks out projects that are intrinsically collaborative, interdisciplinary, and rooted in specific community contexts. She has established several celebrated and ongoing theatre festivals and performance events on PEI, including the March of the Crows for Art in the Open in 2011 (with Jamie Shannon & Harmony Wagner), and the Island Fringe Festival with Sarah Segal-Lazar in 2012.
Megan is the artistic director, lead producer and co-founder (with Ker Wells) of River Clyde Arts, a non-profit organization that has produced The River Clyde Pageant and other spectacular, community-engaged outdoor art events in New Glasgow, PEI since 2016. In addition to co-directing each summer’s River Clyde Pageant, recent work includes direction and dramaturgy for Leah Abramson’s Songs for a Lost Pod; and guiding the creation of The Soley Cove Legacy Project in Economy, Nova Scotia.
She is a recipient of the inaugural Leo Cheverie Cultural Connector of the Year Award, at the PEI Arts Awards in 2023. Her work with the River Clyde Pageant has been honored with a 2023 Reconciliation Recognition Award from the Epekwitk Assembly of Councils, and a PEI Museums and Heritage Award in 2018.
MUSIC SCORE l a y i a
Layia is the project of Halifax based musician and sound artist, Alyson Randles. Alyson started as a vocalist in bands, playing Canadian Music Week and being nominated for an ECMA award She then slowly migrated into the realm of ambient and atmospheric sound over the years, using synthesizers, guitar, field recordings and layered vocals to invoke ethereal feelings of memory and longing. She has performed at the Obey convention in Halifax as well as the Sealight Skylight and White Rabbit festivals in Nova Scotia. Alyson has a full length album release on the Alberta based record label ‘Elder Wall’ for purchase or visit layia.bandcamp.com to explore her sound library.
ANIMATOR f o r e s t t r e m b l a y
Forest is a meandering spirit who spends most of their time venturing between the places they call home in Mi’kma’ki and Treaty 1 and 2/Manitoba. They are a 2-Spirit multidisciplinary artist with a background in movement and manipulation and a dabbler in many other mediums. Constantly looking to the land for inspiration and insight, they enjoy creating art in community to build resilience. Outside of the arts, Forest also works in regenerative agriculture and land-based education. Forest Believes in Magic and collects Buttons.
ANIMATOR l e a h g o o y e r s
Is a tinkerer, portal hopper, and multi disciplinary artist, with major creative explorations in illustrations, painting, character and lore development, and installation art. They find strength and meaning in exploring flow in mediums such as: silk screening, tattoo, wood working, lino cuts, and clay. Most imagery found in their art is shape shifting creatures that lace together the threads of existence, as well as animals and plants tied to places and people they find themself living in and inspired by. Their art is organic, exploratory, and whimsical, as it becomes a home for weaving stories and myths that are centered in the earth and extend to galactic spiral awareness. They approach art in a playful and spirited manner, always inviting new and collaborative energies in.
For 7 years they were an active part of the art collective duo “Beasts Underneath”. Who focused on interactive art installations which included automata crank machines, light boxes, large sculptures and puppets. Beasts Underneath unlocked their understanding of portal creation and the ability to portal hop through the practice of radical art making.