ARTIST FEATURE with NICOLE GOODWIN - ERASURE and Reflections on “Ain’t I a Woman (?/!): Dusk Chronicles II”

Nicole Goodwin performing “Ain’t I a Woman (?/!): Dusk Chronicles II” at the Museum of Human Achievement (MoHA) with Performance Is Alive | March 2019 | Photo by Leone Julitte

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Erasure
Reflections on Ain’t I a Woman (?/!): Dusk Chronicles II, Satellite Art Show SXSW, March 2019
by Nicole Goodwin

The concept of self-discovery through performance art is one that has been erected on a consistent basis. It is the struggle to find one’s self by digging through the layers upon layers of identity, peeling back the ego and the psyche to unearth ideas that are fresh, new and groundbreaking. That was the purpose behind my performance “Ain’t I a Woman (?/!): Dusk Chronicles II” at the Museum of Human Achievement (MoHA) with Performance Is Alive. I was searching for self through the idea of “erasure.” Trying to discover or “recode” myself through swimming into the murky sea of mixed-race genetics, while trying to redefine self and what it is to be Black. Or rather looking into the depths of my own soul searching for the reality I wish to form outside of oppression while recognizing that oppression is indeed all around me trying to take over my mind and body. Diving headfirst into what makes this corruption a solid thing—what is the force that is trying to corrupt my spirit?

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