MIA HARRIS
BIOGRAPHY
Mia Harris (she/her), is a multi-disciplinary artist who works with voice, movement, theatre, film, and most recently painting. She was born in 1979 on an apple orchard in Cawston, British Columbia, Canada, where she fell in love with nature and the imagination. After studying classical voice and opera at the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto, Mia returned to Penticton where she now lives and works.
As a classical singer Mia enjoyed working with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, Bumbershoot Theatre, Opera Kelowna, Musaic Vocal Ensemble, Vivace Chorale, Aura Chamber Choir, Soundstage Productions, Penticton Community Concerts and the West Coast Symphony in Vancouver. She has had operatic engagements with Toronto Operetta Theatre, Opera in Concert (Toronto), Saskatoon Opera, Burnaby Lyric Opera among others.
In 2013 Mia began to explore her voice outside of the classical context and wrote, directed, produced and performed a solo performance art piece entitled “Biography of a Voice” which featured vocal improvisation, theatre and movement. She enjoys learning new works and sang in White Wines, a radio play based on a work by Gertrude Stein for the Radio Free Stein project in Vancouver. She also appeared in the opera excerpts at the Vancouver New Music 40th Anniversary Retrospective. She has been a part of concerts at the Dream Cafe and sang in a Leonard Cohen Tribute concert with internationally known poet, Shane Koyzan.
Mia is the artist in residence at the Penticton Art Gallery where she will be exploring themes for her next performance project is “Vocal Improvisation and Motion-activated Electronic Sound Interaction” (VIMES Interaction). The aim of this project is to research our relationship with technology and question our definition of nature using voice, gesture controlled sound, interactive costuming, sculpture, installation, theatre, movement, speech synthesis and to write the first draft of a performance piece.
ARTIST STATEMENT
In the middle of a performance of Ariadne auf Naxos by R. Strauss, I was singing one of my favourite phrases in the role of der Komponist. Suddenly, on the high note, I found myself floating, out of my body, up in the rafters of the theatre overlooking the stage, orchestra pit and audience. Time seemed to stand still and I was filled with a deep and overwhelming feeling of love. As soon as I realized what was happening I was instantly back in my body, confused as to what was happening.
My curiosity lies in witnessing the present moment and expressing my reality, my version of the human condition, by following impulses that arise. I am interested in the intersection of spiritual practice and the creative process and how these can result in similar states of being. In order to explore the continually unfolding present moment, I use experimental voice, theatre, movement, painting and sculpture in my art practice. I watch and study the mental, emotional and physical states of being as they unfold within the framework of a narrative or some set of given circumstances, or challenge. Making a conscious point of looking inward and being witness to these ever shifting states brings my art-making into my everyday life. Being an artist is a way of life.