In this talk, Matreyek will discuss her artistic investigations into audience perception, illusions, and storytelling, through the lens of her latest work, Infinitely Yours. In the piece, she performs live as a shadow silhouette along with her kaleidoscopic animations as her figure shifts in perspective from a person, a metaphorical symbol of humanity, to even the Earth itself. The shadow traverses through various moments of crisis while embodying the creator and the destroyer, the one who is created and the one who is destroyed.
Matreyek takes moments from news articles about the climate crisis – such as wildfires, flooding, extractions of resources, and pollution – and performs them as first-hand experiences happening upon a body. The shadow figure cowers, flees, and drowns – but also protects, discovers, and feels joy and hope.
The phantasmagorical experience of Infintely Yours centers around creating a visceral experience of shared climate grief between the creator-performer and the audience.