Sha Sha Higby is a costume maker and performer who treats her work as a journey of discovery.
On Monday, I went to a lecture about her work and her processes. These are the notes that I took during this lecture:
- She started her creativity when she was young. She used to make dolls using her step Father's old Singer sewing machine
- Went to art school to study drawing and painting
- She used to draw really intricate and complex drawings and her teacher would talk away her paper and say that she could draw hundreds of drawings in the time it took her to do one! This is a great reflection of her work as it is so detailed and complex.
- "Draw, that's where the soul really comes out."
- She went to Japan for a year and studies Noh masks.
- She studied complexity in Indonesia for 5 years. She also studied puppetry and carving
- She started making dolls again when she was back in the US
- The titles of her work come from her life experiences
- Every part of her work is hand made by her
- She studied dance in her 20s
- She makes costumes alongside creating her performance. She will dance and think of things that will look good when she dances in her costume.
- Her movements are a mixture of planning and improvisation
- She will keep adding to the costume until it's done. It can take up to two years.
- When the costume is done, she'll sit in it for a while to sense the character
- She's experimental and it's so simple yet so effective
- She will work on more then one piece at a time
- Some of the materials she likes to use are; elastic, wire, silk and different types of clay
Some photos I took during the lecture of audience members wearing the headdresses:
On Tuesday, I attended her performance of 'In Folds of Gold'. It was really interesting to watch after learning about her processes and seeing how she applies these processes to her actual performance.
She started off the performance sat in her costume surrounded by different interesting objects. When the music started, she started to move, going to the different objects and playing with and exploring them. It was very similar to how a toddler would explore things, but instead of being childish, it was incredibly interesting and endearing. At the end of the performance, the audience got to go and explore the objects themselves. This was a really interesting thing to as the objects were really beautifully made and it was wonderful to have a chance to see them up close. For example, there was a stick that had been painted gold and had sting ray skin wrapped around it with pieces of mother of pearl set in it too. It was truly stunning. I would like to think that she does that at the end of every performance.
On Wednesday and Thursday, I attended her mask making workshops. We started by casting our own masks from her moulds. She got us to use a mixture of clay, water and a fiber made from recycled plastic bottles. We poured the mixture in, them placed squares on paper towel and cheese cloth into the mixture to make it strong. I anchored some pieces of wire into the mask to do decorative things with and also to attach a stick onto. Then, while they were drying, we had a movement workshop with Sha Sha. She got us to stretch and imagine ourselves in natural environments. She then gave us paper and got us to draw abstractly to music. We then ripped the paper up and attached it to ourselves using wire and elastic. It was a really interesting way of exploring our creativity, loosening us up, and getting us to think in a child-like explorative manner.
When the masks were dry, we took them out and built onto them with paper clay and cellulite clay. I built on eyebrows, cheeks, a chin and swirls on the forehead, I also put balls onto the end of the wires.
When that was done, I painted the mask with dyes, dipping the mask into water to make the colours run.
When the mask was completely dry the next day, I added on glitter leaves to the wires and glitter to places on the face. I painted on some detail, added a smaller mask to the wires and attached the mask to a stick painted with gold glitter.
I am really happy with the mask that I've come out with. It's so completely different to anything I've ever made and the thought process was completely different too.
My week with Sha Sha has really made me realise what some of our guest lecturers at AUCB have been saying about thinking in a child-like way. I have spent the past two days discovering new and old materials and thinking in a completely creative way. I have really enjoyed my week with Sha Sha and i;m so grateful that I got to take part in such an amazing workshop. If I hadn't done the American Exchange, I would never of been a part of it.
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