The daily Astorian., October 01, 2015, Image 19

:
o
c
i
M
n
e
t
s
i
r
K The storyteller
This Portland
ÅTUUISMZZMKMV\Ta
[XMV\\QUMI[IV
artist-in-residence at
the Sou’Wester Lodge
“
I walked on the beach
until two o’clock last
night,” Kristen Mico
says. “The stars were so
EHDXWLIXO UHÀHFWLQJ RII
the saturated sand exposed by low tide.”
An artist inspired by her time on the coast,
Mico had just completed a distraction-free
week as an artist-in-residence at the
Sou’Wester Lodge in Seaview, Washing-
ton. “I met several people who had won-
derful things to say about the residency,”
she says. “I was intrigued, and I wanted to
get out of the city.”
$3RUWODQGVFUHHQZULWHUDQG¿OPPDN
er, Mico spent her time at the Sou’West-
er writing vignettes that will become part
RI KHU QH[W ¿OP ³6PDOO YLJQHWWHV VD\ D
lot in a short period of time,” Mico says.
“This gives the viewer something to think
DERXWDQGWR¿OOLQWKHEODQNVZLWKWKHLU
own imaginations. Through a collection of
candid moments, I want to evoke a sense
of the shared human experience happening
all around us.”
It may seem odd to some, but Mico’s
path as an artist began with a movement
practice. She began studying yoga when
she was 13 and eventually taught the dis-
cipline for several years. In college she be-
came involved in providing somatic ther-
apy for people suffering from PTSD and
began to understand the extent to which,
Photo by Dwight Caswell
While at the Sou’Wester Lodge, Kristen Mico wrote vignettes that will become part of her next fi lm.
she says, “habits and behaviors limit the
way we move through the world.”
Mico’s art evolved from her yoga prac-
WLFH +HU FUHDWLYLW\ VWLÀHG E\ DFDGHPLD
was unbound. “I began to see art, for me
personally, as a powerful tool instead of a
self-interested hobby, and I began looking
for other ways to express myself and to
move through the world,” she says.
She looks to the evolving world of digital
media as a way to affect more people, doing
work of quality that will, “draw people to
VLJQL¿FDQWLVVXHVWRJLYHYRLFHWRWKRVHRIWHQ
XQKHDUGDQGKHOSSHRSOH¿QGFRPPXQLW\´
Although working in new media, Mico
pays attention to those who have gone
the arts
VISUAL ARTS • LITERATURE • THEATER • MUSIC & MORE
Story by DWIGHT CASWELL
before. “I’m young, 29,” she says, “and
there’s a chorus behind me saying ‘live
your dream’ and ‘follow your bliss,’ but
this would be in vain if I didn’t listen to my
elders.”
To learn her new trade, Mico worked
for other producers, learning production
skills like location scouting, casting, set
design, screenwriting, and wardrobe be-
fore deciding to launch her own company,
Brave Alice Productions, this year. She
resolved to work in collaboration with oth-
ers; that would make it unique.
Mico says that she is, “trying different
approaches, looking for new directions.
I’m feeling out where I want to stand.” Her
goal is to, “amplify people with powerful
voices who need to move to the next level
in communication.”
She worked on a short documentary
and Kickstarter campaign for Portland’s
Flying Fish Company, which provides sus-
tainable food from local suppliers. Another
short documentary, “Pudge,” introduces a
group of plus-size women and their body
empowerment projects. As part of a story-
telling competition, which won Best Story,
WKHVKRUW¿OPGRFXPHQWVZRPHQVSHDNLQJ
about the reactions of others to their bodies
and of their own journeys toward loving
themselves. Mico says, “I’m not afraid to
let people express their feelings, so they
Photo by Dwight Caswell
Portland fi lmmaker Kristen Mico was a recent artist-in-residence at the Sou’Wester Lodge in
Seaview, Washington.
can be heard and feel heard. It is a powerful modality
and everyone’s voice matters.”
Mico’s most ambitious piece is a 30-minute project
VKHFRZURWHZLWK¿OPPDNHU/LVD%ROGHQ³µ7KH3KRWRJ
raphers’ is an exploration of creative narrative, a come-
dy, which is new to me, with serious undertones, about a
ZRPDQZKRIROORZVWKHVWDWXVTXR¿QGVKHUVHOILQDOLIH
she didn’t choose, and then wakes up.”
When speaking with Kristen Mico, one senses both
a frisson of ideas and a sense of practical reality. “I
would like to earn a reputation as someone who works
with activists and healers,” she says, “people who see
a better world and need a platform to share ideas and
solutions.”
Mico grew up in the small town of Sandpoint, Ida-
ho. “I value community,” she says. “I see people doing
great things. I want to be a storyteller for those people.”
For more
information
about Kristen
Mico, and to
see examples
of her work,
go to www.
bravealice-
productions.
com
October 1, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 9