Bonita Oliver utilizes multiple mediums as a performance artist and improviser. Her work is about transitions- the process of moving through. She creates deeply emotional, body in space, concept art through voice, music, environmental soundscapes and movement. The motivation is to heal personal and ancestral trauma in order to make way for discovery and connection. Her mission is to engage community through ritual, co creation, education and activism. Her process is in the moment and responds to stimuli – be it internal or external -through embodiment and interaction. Her live works exhibit this process in real time.
While at MacDowell Oliver worked alongside collaborator Doğa Buse Cavdir to explore new ways of interacting with the Bodyharp (a musical instrument designed, built, and coded by Cavdir). She has a daily ancestral dance practice which she integrated with the Bodyharp exploration. She also choreographed movement for her upcoming project, “For Namesake” which focuses on surname lineages and the stories they tell about abuses of people and land.
