SHAWN ESCARCIGA

Shawn Escarciga (Brooklyn, NY, USA)  is an “experimental” “performance” “artist” whose work is based in Butoh and the creation of new movement paradigms, particularly around the queer body and his deep capacity to feel things. His work has been shown throughout New York City (Panoply Performance Lab, Glasshouse ArtLifeLab [Performeando], Queens Museum [LiveArt.us], MIX NYC, Triskelion, Chinatown Soup [Performance Anxiety], The Clemente, Le Petit Versailles), domestically (Boston, Chicago, Lexington, New Orleans, Miami [Satellite Art Show]), and abroad (Berlin). He has collaborated and performed with collectives throughout New York City, including Butoh company, The Vangeline Theater, and the multidisciplinary social justice group, Gender/Power, as well as teaching movement workshops independently for Otion Front Studio and the University of Kentucky. He thinks a lot about classism, queer visibility, how to light patriarchal structures on fire effectively, and what it would be like to live in a country that supports non-commercial artists, which might look something like eating a 2000 calorie diet regularly and owning a Shiba.

Escarciga will perform Saturday, April 14 at the University of Arkansas' Art & Design District. 'Thots on Urban Gardening' draws from Escarciga’s experience as an urban gardener in New York City and experimental text to critique classism, highlight the survival mechanisms of queer people, and explore the nuances of intimacy amongst faggots. The piece will involve the live planting and destruction of a seasonal garden.