Miwa Matreyek

Miwa Matreyek interacts with her animations as shadow silhouettes, at the cross-section of the cinematic and theatrical, fantastical and tangible.

Infinitely Yours explores global warming and the vastly changing Earth, attempting to physicalize and emotionalize the non-stop barrage of news streaming through our screens and the environmental transformation on which we can’t seem to hit pause or rewind.

This World Made Itself is a visually and musically rich journey through the history of the earth, from the universe’s epic beginnings to the complex world of humans. A companion to Infinitely Yours, This World Made Itself is at once semi-scientific—like flipping through a children’s encyclopedia, or viewing a kaleidoscope—and also emotional and dream-like.

Creating work that exists both in the realm of handmade and tech, Matreyek takes on plastics in the oceans, deforestation, drought, and super storms with magical imagery. Her work exists in a ethereal visual space that makes invisible worlds visible, often weaving surreal and poetic narratives of conflict between man and nature.

Matreyek’s performance continues her relationship with Virginia Tech. She connected with students and faculty this past spring to discuss Infinitely Yours and shared insights about her creative process and transdisciplinary approach during a live discussion hosted by the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT).

Traveling as a one-woman show, Matreyek performs her shadow work all around the world, including animation/film festivals, theatre/performance festivals, art museums, science museums, and technology conferences. Past presenters include TED, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), White Light Festival at Lincoln Center, Sundance New Frontier, Fusebox Festival, Time-Based Art Festival, Future of Storytelling Conference, ISEA Conference, and Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Matreyek has performed at many universities, including Texas A&M, Boston University, University of Southern California, University of California San Diego, California Institute of the Arts, University of Michigan, and Western Carolina University.

She received a master of fine arts in experimental animation and integrated media from California Institute of the Arts and is a co-founder and core-collaborator of the multi-media theatre company Cloud Eye Control.

Matreyek is a recipient of the Sherwood Award (2016), Creative Capital Award (2013), Princess Grace Award (2007), and Princess Grace Foundation’s Special Projects Award (2009, 2012, and 2019). Cloud Eye Control is a recipient of several awards and grants, including MAP fund (2013), National Theater Project grant by NEFA (2013), and NPN Creation Fund (2008). Matreyek won Student Grand Prix with her performance, Dreaming Lucid Living, at Platform International Animation Festival in 2007 and has taken part in residencies at McDowell Colony (2014) and Headlands (2011).