I've always been interested in exploring new ways to tell a story. Recently, I began collaborating with two contemporary painters to bring the narratives held within their works into new immersive formats. Shaky's Meadow incorporates David Pollack's sculptures, drawings and watercolors in a site specific augmented projection mapping installation at the Lockwood Gallery in upstate NY in 2022. Farrell Brickhouse's series of paintings and drawings, entitled Russell's Yard, are re-envisioned as a virtual reality experience. I used VR to let users drift through Brickhouse's memories as they explore the magical and playful stories he and his childhood friends created in response to the world around them. Exhibited at LABspace in NY 2022.
My love for the merging of 'tech' and 'art' began in the 90's when I embraced the exciting new prosumer camera format to capture deeply intimate post-verité video diaries. My first documentary, Sandra's Web: a Mother's Diary, premiered on HBO and received a major review in the New York Times. Next, I used traditional broadcast quality gear, but shattered the investigative stories I was telling into a multi-subjective approach breaking documentary norms. This allowed me to capture the birth of Antifa. As importantly, I filmed young people openly embracing the violence of the extreme right. The rhetoric these two groups clash over in Invisible Revolution has amplified into today's political polarization. Invisible Revolution screened at the Sundance Film Festival and Museum of Modern Art, among many other venues. My work continued to evolve along with the technology and now includes an interactive web documentary that builds on the use of multi-subjectivity, video projection/installation, and Virtual Reality experiences that take video diaries to a whole new level by allowing the viewer to literally step into the story and take control.
My work has been broadcast internationally, and screened at major festivals including; HBO, PBS The Sundance Channel, The Sundance Film Festival, Human Rights Watch, Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Walker Art Center. And, Memory Rooms, a VR documentary, premiered at the 2017 FIVAC experimental film festival in Cuba. Educational and grassroots outreach allows my work to continue to have an impact long after it is produced. I received a joint proclamation from the NJ State Senate and Assembly for educational conferences developed by the National Workplace Bullying Coalition (NWBC) while I was founding President. The creation of NWBC was a direct result of my work on WhatKilledKevin.com, a 2014 Webby Award winning interactive documentary that garnered national press including the Washington Post. From 2008 to 2020, I was an Associate Professor at Montclair State University where I helped develop the School of Communication & Media and specialized in teaching Documentary and Transmedia. My husband, Farrell Brickhouse and I reside in the exciting and supportive artist community of Hudson, NY.