Omote (面) at Vancouver International Dance Festival
by John Endo Greenaway
Miya Turnbull’s family on her mother’s side was originally from the Kyushu area in Japan. They settled in Mission before finding themselves working the sugar beet farms of southern Alberta during World War Two courtesy of government policies that wanted all Japanese Canadians removed from the west coast. Miya was raised on a farm near Edmonton, later relocating to Halifax, far from her previous landlocked existence, where she became acquainted with the ocean.
A life-long artist, Miya primarily works with wearable masks, often self-portraits, that become a sculptural medium in her hands. In layering photographs over the masks then manipulating them through layering, cutting, collaging, painting, and other methods, endless possibilities are created that let her play with ideas of identity and self.
As Miya told me last year, ‘it’s kinda ironic that I’m putting my face on the front of the mask, then hiding my real face behind it, but there’s something in that process that gives me control back of how I am “seen”. While growing up, I was constantly being asked, “where are you from?” and we would do the dance that many people here also know all too well, until I finally told them what they wanted to know, that I’m half-Japanese and then they would be satisfied. The mask work has definitely come out of this fascination with “faces” as a symbol of identity.’
Movement artist Shion Skye Carter was born and raised in Gifu, Japan and is now based in Vancouver, on yet another ocean. A recipient of the Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award (2022) and the Chrystal Dance Prize (2023), Shion is in high demand as a choreographer, performer, and collaborator. Working with a wide array of artists, Shion explores how choreography can be hybridized with heritage art forms, such as calligraphy, interacting with sculpture, music, and video/film.
Miya and Shion were brought together in 2022, tasked with creating a five-minute video for Yume. Digital Dreams, a project presented by Tashme Productions that brought together 14 multi-generational, multidisciplinary Japanese Canadian artists from across Canada to collaborate in pairs. Out of this collaboration came Omote (面) a work that blends mask work, movement, and music. The teaming of Miya and Shion has proved fruitful as they continue to explore and expand on the possibilities brought about by the initial collaboration.
Omote (面) will be presented in Vancouver March 12 & 14, 7:00pm at the Roundhouse Performance Centre as part of the Vancouver International Dance Festival.
Bulletin Interview | Miya Turnbull
At one point, I used to joke that the masks were my ‘babies’, as in they were a part of me, but when you see us drop the masks in the performance, you might wonder what kind of mother I am in real life! But I don’t think that way anymore. They are very separate from me, like something I’ve shed or moulted off perhaps. It’s probably good I don’t have that same attachment to them because then it allowed me to do things to the masks like cut up my face and reconstruct them in various ways which has opened up so many new ideas.
Miya, it’s been a year since we talked. At the time you mentioned that you were planning to expand Omote (面) into a full-length work and bring it to Vancouver. And now here we are. You’re bringing the work to the Vancouver International Dance Festival in March. That’s pretty exciting.
Yes, this is so exciting! I’m discovering that I can’t just collaborate with anyone, it really is such an intimate experience and Shion and I are so compatible as artists and creators together, that it is such a joy to work with her which also helps us to dig deeper into the work right away and combine our skills to make something larger than each of us. And I’m so excited to come to Vancouver!
Last year, you and Shion were clearly excited about the possibilities of working and moving together with your masks. You had moved from a five minute piece to a twenty minute piece and now a full length work. What were the challenges you faced in expanding the length and scope of the work?
The most challenging part in expanding the work is the physical distance between us (from one coast to the other) and not having as much time together in-person as would be ideal for creation together and explore as deeply as I would like, but of course we make the most of our time together and always hit the ground running. We’ve been very fortunate to get Canada Council funding which allows Shion to travel to Halifax so we can work together and perform here as well, but it’s such a short amount of time compared to if we lived closer together. There’s still so many possibilities and ideas to explore so it’s just a matter of figuring out what to include and how to tie it all together, which is both thrilling and terrifying since we are still in the creation process.
The masks are an integral part of your work, almost performers in their own right, offering what seems like endless possibilities for transformation. Has it worked the other way around as well, have the masks themselves undergone a transformation as a result of the collaboration between you and Shion?
Yes, I’m actually just in the midst of completing new masks for the show that came directly out of ideas we had while working together. The masks are massive and ‘monstrous’ as they are multiples of our faces conjoined together. I can’t wait to try them out with Shion in the studio, and experiment with movement ideas shaped by the imagery of the masks and the limits of how much we can move while wearing this monstrous sculpture. I love how it can go both ways- the movement and themes can inspire new masks and in turn, the masks can inform the movement.
Can you share some of the process involved in working together with the masks? Where do the ideas come from? Where do you even start?
There’s so much play involved in my work, it’s honestly so much fun. It’s really just a matter of trying things out and seeing what happens. I use video for feedback and when I see a movement for example that works really well with a particular mask, then I’ll often go back in and explore that further. It is extremely challenging to be in the masks and not be able to see fully what it looks like from the outside and that’s definitely the case with Omote (面). Both Shion and I are masked almost entirely throughout the whole performance and it’s hard to see each other, not to mention ourselves and the whole of us interacting. That’s also why it’s great to have Julie Tamiko Manning onboard as our Dramaturg to help us figure out what works visually across the whole stage, as well as a cohesive arc.
It doesn’t take a psychologist to see that working with and wearing the self-portrait masks is laden with symbolism. How do you see the relationship between you and masks? How has that relationship evolved over time?
At one point, I used to joke that the masks were my ‘babies’, as in they were a part of me, but when you see us drop the masks in the performance, you might wonder what kind of mother I am in real life! But I don’t think that way anymore. They are very separate from me, like something I’ve shed or moulted off perhaps. It’s probably good I don’t have that same attachment to them because then it allowed me to do things to the masks like cut up my face and reconstruct them in various ways which has opened up so many new ideas. In saying that though, I definitely am connected to the masks and they definitely become a part of me when I put them on, so it’s always a bit of a push and pull dynamic with them, which I feel is symbolic as well.
Here’s a fraught question for you. In this time of increasing polarization, much of it race-based, I see mixed race people like ourselves as having a unique perspective in terms of navigating these thorny issues. Do you deal with these issues in your work? If so, how?
I definitely know for a fact, I would not have created any of this mask work if I didn’t have the experiences that I did growing up as mixed-race with every other person questioning my identity and needing to categorize me as something or other. I do feel we have a unique perspective in life and this is underlying in my work: this in-between-ness and/or duality, there’s a degree of shape-shifting that perhaps we can navigate because of our experiences, but I don’t think it’s a huge part of my work. I do feel though that the masks engage people right away and this is a great entrance point for people to think about identity and authenticity and what it means to be human, etc.
And outside of your work, what role does your mixed race identity have in shaping how you see the world?
I feel very lucky that I was exposed to different cultural experiences growing up, especially since I lived in a very small rural town in Alberta where one could easily be very close-minded otherwise. I think it’s given me insight that we, as humans, are more than how/what we present. We shouldn’t be defined by how we look which we largely have no control over, but rather by our character, by our talents and how we treat others.
You and Shion are holding a free origami and movement workshop on March 8 at the Roundhouse Exhibition Hall in conjunction with the performances. What can people expect to experience at the workshop?
I will lead the workshop at the beginning by making and teaching origami with the participants. It’s not your traditional looking origami however! We will be making different designs such as a paku paku and jumping frog with my self-portraits printed on the papers. Then Shion will take over the last half of the workshop to lead us through movement inspired by the origami, whether it be the designs themselves, or the act of folding or even imagining oneself as a piece of paper. There’s only room for 20 people so it will fill up fast!
Omote (面)
Shion Skye Carter + Miya Turnbull
Vancouver/Halifax
Roundhouse Performance Centre
March 12 & 14, 7:00pm
Choreography, Performance Shion Skye Carter, Miya Turnbull
Music Stefan Nazarevich
Dramaturg Julie Tamiko Manning
presented in partnership with the Powell Street Festival
For tickets and details, visit vidf.ca
WORKSHOP March 8, 12:00pm
Roundhouse Exhibition Hall
Free/by-donation workshop with visual artist Miya Turnbull and dance artist Shion Skye Carter.
The first half hour will be spent making Miya’s self-portrait origami (several designs for participants to keep), followed by a half hour of movement led by Shion inspired by the paper, folds and designs of the origami creations.
The workshop is for all ages, but younger children will need assistance from a grown up.
duration 1.5 hours
maximum 20 participants
restrictions all ages w/ 19+ guardian
all materials provided
