Patricia Brace
Women and Water
Lake Arrowhead, Maine
2023
Filmed by Stephen Underwood
Assisted by Debbie Broderick
Filmed floating above Variable Leaf Milfoil, an invasive aquatic plant in Lake Arrowhead, Maine, “Women and Water” is a somatic performance addressing human's role in the current climate crisis.
In "Women and Water," a figure drifts atop the dense plants, unknowing of the omnipresent green mass underneath. Occasionally a tendril of the invasive drapes over an arm, or loops onto a foot, but the body slips, unbothered by the plant's touch.
The aerial view of the drone emphasizes the otherworldliness of the botanical species, while the artist's corporeal presence is paired with a track from Mitski's album “This Land is Inhospitable and so are We”.
Playing metaphorically with the romantic narrative arc of the music “Women and Water” asks, how do we cohabitate with nature during a time of climate crisis when, like the milfoil, it is impossible to eradicate, but can be improved through collaborative efforts.
Brace is an interdisciplinary artist whose work addresses the relationship between intersectional feminism and the environment through her use of dance, technology and installation. Brace currently teaches at Maine College of Art and Design and formerly taught at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. Brace has recently attended the Studios at MASS MoCA and Alumni Residency at Maine College of Art and Design. She has exhibited at The Charles Danforth Gallery, University of Maine at Augusta, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, The Institute of Contemporary Art in Portland, Maine. Brace's work has also been shown at Gary Snyder Project Space and SOHO 20 in New York and Ortega Y Gasset Projects, Smack Mellon and Trestle Gallery in Brooklyn. She is the recipient of the Professional Development Grant at MECA&D and Women Invigorating the Curriculum and Cultivating Diversity Committee Grant, UMA Plunkett Poetry Festival Grant and the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office Grant at University of Maine, Augusta. Brace is the Co-founder of Performance Art Initiative, Sine Gallery and GROUNDWORK retreat and has work in the permanent collection at the Portland Museum of Art.
