Overview
Transformer celebrated the new year with SNOW GLOBE, an artistic collaboration that transformed our storefront project space into a life-size, interactive, winter wonderland that audiences were invited to experience from both inside and outside.
DC based artists Jessica Cebra and Zach Storm playfully incorporated painting, drawing, mixed media collage, and sculptural elements to create a winter-themed installation (the globe), with dancers from The Washington Ballet (the snow) performing a series of new pieces choreographed by Artistic Director Septime Webre.
In what unfolded as an inspiring and playful collaboration, with thoughtful interpretation of each other’s artistic processes and visual concepts, Jessica Cebra and Zach Storm translated the subtle gestures they each utilize in their individual drawing and collage work to create a three-dimensional installation, handcrafting a diorama-like theater of forms for the resulting SNOW GLOBE environment. Focusing on an icy color palette of blue, green, and slate grey tones, the artists eliminated as many existing right angles within Transformer as possible to highlight a globe effect. Delicate paper leaves placed in swirling trails throughout the space, wall drawings, and crystalline and stalactite 3-d formations, created a glacial cave. Concerned with the saturation of slick and manufactured realism that is pervasive throughout modern consumer culture, the artists purposefully exposed “the hand” in the creation of SNOW GLOBE, highlighting their use of accessible, lo-fi materials such as cardboard, paper, and plaster. About the installation, Jessica said, “I personally am obsessed with crystals because of their awe inspiring shapes and structures, and am intrigued by their use as symbols of perfection and power, as well as their simple atomic structures and uses in science. We hope to convey something enchanting by the delicacy and preciousness of such shapes and of the found papers and materials we will be using.”
No stranger to conveying enchantment, Septime Webre drew inspiration from Jessica and Zach’s vision in choreographing SNOW GLOBE’s ballet performances, comprised of a collage of influences including Icarus, Mozart, and Bernard Herman. On January 16, 2010, audiences experienced the SNOW GLOBE shaking to life as Washington Ballet dancer Andile Ndlovu, and members of The Washington Ballet Studio Company - Jasmin Dwyer, Ayano Kimura, Tamako Miyazaki, Yuka Oyoshi, Jong-Suk Park, Alexandra Pera, Sarah Walborn and Kensuke Yorozu - performed Septime’s short compositions inside the snow globe in a flurry of white tutus. Special thanks to Ed Rock, beloved friend of the arts and Transformer Board of Directors alumni, for organizing the musical arrangements for the SNOW GLOBE performances.
Following the opening day of SNOW GLOBE, video documentation of the ballet performances arranged by DC based video artist, editor and producer Rory Sheridan was projected within the artist-built environment through the duration of the exhibition.
About the artists:
Born in California, Jessica Cebra moved to DC in 2002 to attend the Corcoran College of Art + Design, where she majored in Fine Art Photography. Graduating with a BFA in 2006, Jess has continued to live and work in DC. She has expanded her artistic practice over the last several years to focus on a series of intelligent collages, often combining imagery from the world of high fashion to form compelling crystallizations of handbags, belts, gemstones, fur, and iconic models. She is fascinated by mineral sciences, naturally occurring structural and growth patterns, the allure of surfaces and textures, the ideals and icons of beauty and power, and the aesthetics of decadence and opulence. Jess has exhibited her work in DC and elsewhere, including Transformer's recent Paper Trail exhibition and 2007's Natural (dis)Order exhibition.
Rory Sheridan is a producer editor living in Washington, DC. When not making videos, Rory is making videos. He also enjoys skateboarding, Italian wine, cheap beer and being a member of the world’s greatest band: Rattler.
Zach Storm is from Los Angeles, California. He lives and works in Washington, DC. Zach is represented by Judi Rotenberg Gallery in Boston, MA where he had a 2009 solo exhibition about breaking up with crazy people. Most recently, Zach worked with Judi Rotenberg Gallery as an artist-in-residence at the Verge 2009 Art Fair in Miami, FL where he created a body of drawings about the culture surrounding the fairs. Normally he spends his days drinking and eating. He spends the hours between 1am and 5am listening to “Coast to Coast AM”. That's an am radio show that confronts paranormal realities...they're everywhere.
Septime Webre was appointed Artistic Director of The Washington Ballet in June 1999 after six years as Artistic Director of American Repertory Ballet in New Jersey. Much in demand as a choreographer, he has created works that appear in the repertoires of many companies in North America, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Ballet Austin, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet and Colorado Ballet, among many others. As a dancer, Mr. Webre was featured in works by George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Antony Tudor, Alvin Ailey, and Merce Cunningham, as well as in principal and solo roles from the classical repertoire. A former member of the board of directors of Dance/USA, Mr. Webre sits on the board of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, has been honored by Young Audiences of the District of Columbia, and has received a number of fellowships for his choreography. Mr. Webre is the seventh son in a large Cuban-American family, and he graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. in History/Pre-Law.
The Washington Ballet (originally founded as The Washington School of Ballet in 1944 by legendary ballet pioneer Mary Day) was incorporated as a professional company in 1976 and is one of the pre-eminent ballet organizations in the United States. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Septime Webre and Executive Director Russell Allen, and with the guidance of The Washington Ballet Board of Directors, TWB has embraced a three-part mission: ensuring excellence in its professional performance company, growing the next generation of dancers through its Washington School of Ballet, and serving the communities of the Washington, DC area through robust community engagement programs, including DanceDC and twb@thearc.
The Washington Ballet Studio Company connects The Washington School of Ballet to the professional company by giving budding professional dancers the essential performing experience and intensive training needed for a career on stage. In addition to performing in the repertoire of The Washington Ballet, the Studio Company pursues rigorous technical training through daily classes with both the company and private Studio Company-only classes. Many of TWB’s Studio Company alums go on to have careers with The Washington Ballet, as well as many other ballet companies.
