Jackie Moynahan

   “In Bodying Grief”

Movement Performance with Audio

In Bodying Grief is both an installation and a movement performance which explores the waves of grief I have experienced and continue to experience after my dad’s death on May 24, 2023. Through writing and movement I have been processing the slow loss of my dad as Alzheimer's took over (grieving the living), reflecting on my own remembrance of his life and grief of his death. I chose this box with dirt and flowers as my connection point to the earth, from where we are from and then return.
As an installation the audience was invited to read my writings and think about how they might move confined to this box and process their own grief story. I planted myself in this box and embodied my own grief movement as a public performance 3 times, set to a sound score of music and voice recordings of my writings. I invite you to take a read and/or listen.

Note: The performance was a structured improv to be in itself a new wave each time and the installation continued to evolve over the afternoon.

 Artist Bio

Jackie Moynahan is an Olympia based artist transplanted from New York, where she created and performed in NYC and a few other places from 2001-2016, presenting her work in both theater spaces as well as site-specific locations including a park and a decommissioned Firehouse. Her work is grounded in personal experiences mixed with using small set pieces or installation type elements to create mini worlds where the dance exists, living for its time and never to be witnessed exactly the same again. 

Jackie is reconnecting with her artistic roots as a solo performer, using her structured improvisational dance style to explore another aspect of her life journey. 

To connect with Jackie, find her at jackie.moynahan@gmail.com