نیکی افسرزاده
کار: مثل بلبل
کلمات
بیو + سی وی
تماس
my work explores ideas of fluidity and longing within language, hybrid/myriad identities, and mental health.
my art and politics are shaped by questions of identity and liberation. i am in the process of developing my artistic practice as a site for reimagination and world-building, with the goal of creating performance and artistic spaces that are collaborative and collective while also specific and personal.
my work explores not only longing but also the lack that persists in my relationships to language and mythologies of identity. these liminal spaces of void are where desire lives. they are essential for change and reinvention.
i employ a number of mediums including devised movement and performance; poetry and text; live singing and recording using a vocal loop machine; sound collaging; and more recently, mirror work.
Iranian-American • writer, performer, creator • she/they pronouns
born April 4, 1993 Los Angeles, CA
Residencies and Training
Trinacria Theatre Company, Pezzolo, Italy
Open Creative Residency (Upcoming), July - August 2022
Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, NE
2022 Residency, April - June 2022
Rhizome DC, Washington, DC
Artist in Residence, March 2022
NARS Foundation, Brooklyn, NY
International Artist Residency Program, October - December 2021
Double Edge Theatre, Ashfield, MA
Fall Immersion, September - November 2020
Residency Mentorship, January - April 2021
Monson Arts, Monson, ME
Monson Arts Residency, February - March 2021
Bohemi Theater Group, Tehran, Iran
Theatricultural Exchange Residency, August 2019
DehKhoda International Center for Persian Studies, Tehran, Iran
Certificate of Completion in May 2018
Group Exhibitions
Utterances; NARS Gallery at NARS Foundation; Brooklyn, NY; November 19 - December 15, 2021; Curator: Elisa Gutierrez https://www.narsfoundation.org/2021_exhibitions/2021/utterances
On-- Transcending Numbness; Pfizer Building; Brooklyn, NY; April 14 - April 27, 2022; Curator: Tamara Khasanova
Published Writing
“Finding Language for the Depression of Finding Language,” Issue 14, Mixed Mag, 7 May 2022 https://mixedmag.co/2022/05/07/finding-language-for-the-depression-of-finding-language-by-niki-afsar/
“into the mountain,” I Want Sky/The Margins, Asian American Writers Workshop/Mizna, 15 July 2021
https://aaww.org/into-the-mountain/
“I moved to Iran to Learn the Language I Forgot,” Buzzfeed News, Buzzfeed, 31 March 2018
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nikiafsar/iran-tehran-learn-farsi-language
“Mesl Bolbol/Like a Nightingale (1-5),” Vol. 2: Diaspora’s Tongue, South Asian Diaspora Arts Collective, September 2018 https://issuu.com/sadacnyc/docs/zine_su18-1
Creative Experience
Sakaraht, Dir. by Mohammad Hossein Maaref, Tehran, Iran,
Assistant Director, June - August 2019
The Escher Painting, Bohemi Theater Group, Tehran, Iran
Stage Manager/Assistant Director, September 2018 - February 2019
May She Rest in Peace (Short Film), Dir. Nazgol Kashani, Tehran, Iran
Production Assistant, August 2018
HUE Color Culture Theory Magazine
Contributing Editor, November 2016 - March 2018, http://www.alanna-reeves.com/#/huezine/
Amy Surratt’s FIRST AND LAST (show), The Club at La MaMa ETC, New York, NY
Stage Manager/Assistant Director, February - June 2017
Mary Stuart/This Meeting Could Have Been an Email, Spicy Witch Productions, New York, NY
Assistant Stage Manager/Assistant Director, January - April 2017
The Accidental Wolf (Web Series), Waterwell Films, New York, NY
Production Assistant, Summer 2016
The Revenger’s Tragedy/Bonesetter, Spicy Witch Productions, New York, NY
Assistant Stage Manager, January - April 2016
Antigone, Cradle Theatre Co., New York, NY
Stage Manager, September - December 2015
3.7 Literary Magazine, Charlottesville, VA
Co-editor, Fall 2014 - Spring 2015
The Declaration Newspaper, Charlottesville, VA
Contributing Writer, Fall 2013 - Spring 2015
Diane (Short Film), Dir. Brendan Rijke, Richmond, VA
Assistant Director/Acting Coach, Spring 2015
Fifth Street (Short Film), Dir. Brendan Rijke, Warrenton, VA
Co-Producer/Acting Coach, 2014 - 2015
Other Employment
Merzad Culture Consulting, Bethesda, MD
Freelance Copywriter, March 2020 - Present
Freelance English Language Voice Over Talent, Tehran, Iran
December 2017 - February 2020
Freelance English Language Tutor, Copyeditor, Translator, Tehran, Iran
April 2018 - December 2019
AvaMehr Language Institute, Tehran, Iran
ESL Teacher and Private Tutor, August 2018 - September 2019
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New York, NY
Events and Outreach, September 2016 - January 2017
Waterwell Films, New York, NY
Artistic Intern, September 2015 – June 2016
Education
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Graduated May 2015
B.A. in Comparative Literature & Media Studies
Awarded Highest Distinction in Comparative Literature Distinguished Majors Program
Echols Scholar; UVa Intermediate Honors; Dean’s List
Skills
Persian Language (advanced speaking, reading, writing), French Language (intermediate), Basic Carpentry, ESL Teaching & Tutoring, Childcare, Copyediting & Proofreading, Microsoft Office, Voice Over, Valid Driver’s License, Barista, Singing (all styles), Piano, Rock Climbing and Bouldering, Yoga