for the second staging of performances in Al Held’s painting studio, RVAC’s Olga Dekalo invited emory to present part 3 of a trilogy that centers the artist’s care work with medical mannequins. activating a 15 x 20-foot abstract painting that was left, uncompleted, in Held’s studio at the time of his death, boiling rain will engage audiences in somatic practice of constellation gathering. emory bridges dimensions of their work as a dancer, choreographer, a registered nurse and a practitioner of ceremony and ritual that includes communicating with the spirit world. the affinity between these realms is anchored by the artist’s personal history of seeing, hearing and talking to spirits from a young age and their medical practice that involves caring for the dying. in casting Jeanie as part of the ensemble, the team embodies and manifests the work of care and poignantly shares the experience of attending to a transcending body.

boiling rain has been commissioned as a work in progress showing thanks to being an awardee of 2024 River Valley Arts Collective + Al Held Foundation Fellowship at STONELEAF RETREAT, curated by Olga Dekalo.