Multimedia Artist Miwa Matreyek Selected For 2016 Richard E. Sherwood Award

Animator, designer and multimedia artist Miwa Matreyek has been selected as the recipient of Center Theatre Group's 2016 Richard E. Sherwood Award.

Created in memory of Richard E. Sherwood, the $10,000 award provides financial support for creative and adventurous emerging theatre artists living and working in Los Angeles.

"Miwa's work is both boundary-pushing and enchanting. By blending animation with live performance, she creates something distinctly her own, making her the perfect recipient of the Sherwood," said Michael Ritchie, Center Theatre Group's Artistic Director.

Matreyek creates work that takes place at the meeting point of cinema and performance. Her work explores how the live body and physical space can transform when combined with the projected image. A graduate from CalArts, her work has been presented in theatres, galleries and film festivals around the world including TED, Sundance and REDCAT. She is a founding member and collaborator of the multimedia performance collective Cloud Eye Control.

"I am interested in the connection between visual art and science and the mechanics of the body and the universe. I want to embody gravity, for instance, and what it feels like on earth or on the moon. My work is semi-scientific, but very emotional and fantastical," said Matreyek.

With the support of the Sherwood Award, Matreyek hopes to create a new solo piece. "I didn't begin in theatre, I started as an animator. Being at the Ovation Awards to receive the Sherwood made me realize the vastness of the L.A. theatre landscape," said Matreyek. "It's exciting to know there is such a huge theatre world and that all of these groups are supportive of each other. The Sherwood Award helps emerging artists create our own path. That recognition and financial support is so important for artists establishing themselves."

Matreyek creates all of the images used in her shows, and also choreographs her live performances. With only a few projectors and a laptop, she can set up, perform and strike a show within five hours. She creates her fantastical dreamscapes in her living room, playing with the interaction between animation and the movement of the body. Her most recent works include "Half Life," created with Cloud Eye Control, which premiered at REDCAT in January 2015, and "Infinitely Yours," a new solo project which combines techniques of shadow and scrim to create immersive, panoramic moments on stage.

Since 1996, the Sherwood Award has met a vital need in the Los Angeles theatre landscape. Richard E. Sherwood was a patron of the arts with a special appreciation for emerging artists who are in the vanguard of theatre. He was President and then Chairman of the CTG Board of Directors from 1980 until his passing in 1993. The award was established as an endowed fund at CTG by his family, friends, colleagues and fellow board members to honor Sherwood's passionate commitment to theatre.

The Sherwood Award was presented to Miwa Matreyek at the Ovation Awards ceremony produced by LA Stage Alliance on November 9, 2015, at the Ahmanson Theatre.

To post a comment, you must register and login.