As is so often the case, we are living in a challenging time for art: the simultaneous derision for artists paired with the relentless desire to consume new content seems to make it increasingly difficult to create meaningful work, let alone to sustain yourself while making it.
Despite this, I continue to feel that sharing stories is a vital component of human connection–when we engage in collective storytelling, both as performers and audience members, we begin to live vicariously. We create opportunities to encourage empathy, to consciously consider what we are thinking and feeling, and to expand our understanding of the human condition.
Art, to me, is about exposing something. Showing the world the best and worst of what it has to offer. I hope that in confronting that good and that bad we are able to find common ground, or catharsis, or an ability to express our humanity. I strive to walk through the world, and my art, in a way that makes it a more compassionate place. To seek a sense of meaning beyond myself. And to be part of stories that heal hearts, dance inside minds, and, hopefully, make lives better.
I was once asked by a director what my mission statement for the show was. At the time, and for that specific show, I answered: to courageously pursue spontaneity and creative risk. With reflection, I have amended that to more broadly encompass my life and work: to relentlessly seek meaningful truth as it manifests in an imagined reality, and to express that truth through the courageous pursuit of creative risk.
Brianna Johnston 