Interview with
Christine Sloan Stoddard
Interdisciplinary Artist
Christine Sloan Stoddard
Interdisciplinary Artist
Photo Credit: Shawn Inglima
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Christine Sloan Stoddard is a Salvadoran-American artist creating books, films, plays, paintings, installations, and more. She founded Quail Bell Magazine and runs Quail Bell Press & Productions. Her single author books include Heaven is a Photograph, Naomi & The Reckoning, Desert Fox by the Sea, Belladonna Magic, and other titles.
She has shared her creations and talents with The Huffington Post, the New York Transit Museum, the Elisabet Ney Museum, the Kennedy Center, the New York City Poetry Festival, and beyond. Previously, she was the first-ever artist-in-residence at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House in Manhattan and Brooklyn Public Library’s Eastern Parkway Branch. Christine is a member of The Authors Guild and the Dramatists Guild of America. Watch her new film "Bottled" on Amazon Prime. |
Christine talks about her heritage and the inspiration behind much of her work.
You've said that you are deeply influenced by your Salvadoran-American heritage.
For me, it’s more about being a hyphenated American than it is specifically being Salvadoran-American, although I am influenced by that, too. Most hyphenated Americans can relate to the experience of living on the border of different identities. I relate to American stories because I am a born and bred American, but I also relate to immigrant stories because my mother is an immigrant, and her whole side of the family - my Salvadoran side - are immigrants.
There is the constant negotiation of 'belonging' and 'not belonging.' This has inspired my curiosity and pride in my indigenous and Latin roots. Many mixed kids internalize shame for their 'non-white' side at an early age because of racism and xenophobia. While I’m done with shame, that early shame will always be a part of my experience and inform my perspectives and creations.
You've said that you are deeply influenced by your Salvadoran-American heritage.
For me, it’s more about being a hyphenated American than it is specifically being Salvadoran-American, although I am influenced by that, too. Most hyphenated Americans can relate to the experience of living on the border of different identities. I relate to American stories because I am a born and bred American, but I also relate to immigrant stories because my mother is an immigrant, and her whole side of the family - my Salvadoran side - are immigrants.
There is the constant negotiation of 'belonging' and 'not belonging.' This has inspired my curiosity and pride in my indigenous and Latin roots. Many mixed kids internalize shame for their 'non-white' side at an early age because of racism and xenophobia. While I’m done with shame, that early shame will always be a part of my experience and inform my perspectives and creations.
What inspired you to transform written poetry to visual poetry (or interdisciplinary poetry)?
I am not the first to make poetry films or otherwise combine words and images, but I have been drawn to this mode of creativity since childhood. I have always enjoyed books and films, so making poetry films appeals to my passions and sensibilities as a poet and a filmmaker. I often make poetry films and release them through Quail Bell Press & Productions and publish them to Quail Bell Magazine.
Do you think visual poetry has a greater impact in today's technology-driven culture?
Yes. Our culture is also visually driven. Social media is full of images; often words are secondary. I love that digital culture has opened new avenues for creating and distributing poetry (and other art forms) to wider audiences. Some poets complain about Instagram poetry, for example, but I can’t get behind bashing an entire form of expression. Critiquing individual poems? Sure. But writing off an entire form of expression is elitist and close-minded to new possibilities in art. Art evolves.
I am not the first to make poetry films or otherwise combine words and images, but I have been drawn to this mode of creativity since childhood. I have always enjoyed books and films, so making poetry films appeals to my passions and sensibilities as a poet and a filmmaker. I often make poetry films and release them through Quail Bell Press & Productions and publish them to Quail Bell Magazine.
Do you think visual poetry has a greater impact in today's technology-driven culture?
Yes. Our culture is also visually driven. Social media is full of images; often words are secondary. I love that digital culture has opened new avenues for creating and distributing poetry (and other art forms) to wider audiences. Some poets complain about Instagram poetry, for example, but I can’t get behind bashing an entire form of expression. Critiquing individual poems? Sure. But writing off an entire form of expression is elitist and close-minded to new possibilities in art. Art evolves.
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You state that you're interested in the concept of power and how it manifests itself in individual and societal contexts. Please elaborate. This is a purposely broad interest because power is broad. We see it play out in the Animal Kingdom and, well, we’re animals, too! Power exists in every relationship, and it’s up to us to consider that dynamic and work to change it if we wish. In Butterflies, we get a glimpse of Black girls’ power in society - perhaps more accurately described as their lack of power. It’s not that they are inherently powerless. It’s that society doesn’t treat them with the dignity and respect that comes with real, actionable power in places like public schools. |
Click the above video to view Butterflies, a short film.
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From those who collaborated with Christine to create Butterflies:
"Butterflies is a lamentation about the treatment of Black girls in schools written after witnessing a video of a Black high school girl in South Carolina being violently thrown around (while still seated at her desk) by a school resource officer. Black girls' innocence, vulnerability, and fragility need protection. I hoped to capture this in the poem." ~ Teri Elam, poet
"Butterflies presents us with the challenge of not looking the other way. The challenge of reaching out in support to our endangered girls. The challenge to be each other's keeper.” ~ Disnie Sebastien, actress
"When Disnie is beating the fence with the wooden rod and the harmonies start to get all glitchy and dizzy...she recites the final line which always gives me chills, ‘Once fractured, the butterfly's wings will not regenerate.’ The harmonies and beat just keep looping. It reminds me that we all carry painful memories in our bodies; and the butterfly as a metaphor for change is a reminder that our own transformations are often a difficult and repetitive process.” ~ Deniz Zeynep, musical composition
"Butterflies is a lamentation about the treatment of Black girls in schools written after witnessing a video of a Black high school girl in South Carolina being violently thrown around (while still seated at her desk) by a school resource officer. Black girls' innocence, vulnerability, and fragility need protection. I hoped to capture this in the poem." ~ Teri Elam, poet
"Butterflies presents us with the challenge of not looking the other way. The challenge of reaching out in support to our endangered girls. The challenge to be each other's keeper.” ~ Disnie Sebastien, actress
"When Disnie is beating the fence with the wooden rod and the harmonies start to get all glitchy and dizzy...she recites the final line which always gives me chills, ‘Once fractured, the butterfly's wings will not regenerate.’ The harmonies and beat just keep looping. It reminds me that we all carry painful memories in our bodies; and the butterfly as a metaphor for change is a reminder that our own transformations are often a difficult and repetitive process.” ~ Deniz Zeynep, musical composition
Where do you find sanctuary?
My imagination! I find peace in daydreaming and creating. A close second: food. I love eating and have such vivid memories of food, especially from home-cooked meals made by my mother and husband - who have drastically different styles.
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Christine's Heaven is a Photograph (Clash Books) is a collection of narrative poems and photographs that tells the story of an art student and her journey of doubt, longing and questioning.
Join her as she finds her power behind the lens. Find a poem titled "The Dead Girl Artist's Scientific Method" in POETRY CORNER.
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