My name is Lisa Pijuan-Nomura. I have been known to some as La Boca, Pij, La Loca de los Gatos or Mama to Max.
I am also a collage artist, mover, sound maker, an arts educator and a creativity coach.
I have always considered myself a storyteller even when my work was mostly movement based with no text. I believe that everyone has stories and that they can be expressed in a myriad of ways. I think that images can convey things that words can't and that is how my collage work can be evocative in telling stories with vintage ephemera.
Since moving to Hamilton I wanted to create a space where professional tellers could come together and push the boundaries of the form, so I kept my eye out for some candidates, and for the most part they are who you see in the collective now.
I was getting really tired of working alone in a studio and felt that there must be a way that we could apply the way that theatre is created collectively to storytelling. We have been figuring it out as we go along, but for the most part it really works. We have a bunch of very diverse voices at the table and they all give feedback. The teller takes what feels right and goes home to continue crafting the stories. I love the support of the group and the way they expose me to different directions that I never would have imagined working by myself.
I find that [my] daily journal is where most of my stories come from. I have lists and lists and lists of stories that I have journaled for much of my life. Family stories, Stories of Healing, and Creepy spanish folktales [which is something I'm currently exploring].
The stories I loved as a child tended to be anything that my grandmother told me. They mostly had to do with Spain and her grandmother and how she would love me forever even if she wasn't standing by my side. My grandmother informed my way of being and the way that I share my stories with song, sound, movement and words. I miss her but feel so happy that her memories are a big part of my stories.
My grandmother told me a lot of stories and I have always loved listening to elders share stories of where they came from. As I get older I realize that I now have a voice that I didn't when I was 20 years old. My stories, and the stories I choose to tell come from a place of experience and love.
The next Hamilton 7 storytelling show will be at The Hamilton Fringe Festival . Dates, times and location in the link.
