I am a visual-vocal artist and researcher.

I have always been curious about the power of singing, and I use the myth of the Sirens’ song as a platform for my artistic practice, which interweaves visual and vocal art, focusing on the experience of being ‘inside’ voicings.

My love of the arts and the power of stories led me to study English Literature. During these studies, I connected deeply to a scene in mythology: the performance of the Siren song in the Odyssey. My connection to this scene (and other versions of the Siren song story), as well as experiencing the power of performance, especially in relation to singing, guided me to pursue theatre and voice training.

After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art with an MA in Text and Performance, my voice-based practical dissertation on the Siren song (one of the first voice-based dissertations at RADA) inspired me to deepen my study of voice, practically and theoretically. The following five years I dedicated to voice studies, commuting between Sweden, the UK and Italy. My studies included Extended and Experimental Vocal Practice, Herding-calling (‘Kulning’), Choral Singing and Basic Ear Training, Sound Art, Sound Healing and Gender Studies.

During this time, my curiosity about the psychology of singing grew, and I pursued this interest doing an MSc in Performance Science at the Royal College of Music, while at the same time being mentored (as a researcher) in 2017-18 in the Equilibrium Young Artists Program initiated by singer/conductor Barbara Hannigan. This training nurtured a passion for raising awareness about singers’ health and well-being (at all levels and in all genres) and for promoting the act of singing as a practice for health and well-being (especially for those who self-identify as ‘non-singers’).

My curiosity for Voice and Performance Studies led me to undertake a voice-based Performance Practice PhD on Voicing ‘Thelxis’ (a Greek word similar to enchantment that is used to describe what the Sirens do when they sing). My PhD project involved developing practices to connect with the Siren song, and I devised and ran workshops for arts practitioners on vocal attraction and interspecies communication.

For over a decade, I have used the Siren song myth to explain my area of interest and passion. As I was completing my doctoral research, I recognised the water scene within the myth. The presence of water, and its possible connection to thelxis, became visible to me as my research journey was nearing the end. It is the undercurrent of my thesis, which explores the ripple effects of voice.

I have published on the symbolic value of the Siren song for singing and for singers in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies (2019), and on ‘humanimal’ vocal pedagogy on the Theatre, Dance, and Performance Training Blog (2021). I have presented and exhibited my research at the annual conference of the Theatre and Performance Research Association (2019) as well as at the International Network of Herding Music Scholars (2020). I have also spoken at the University of Exeter about voice in teaching contexts (2020) and given talks about the value of the imagination in research (2021). I am frequently asked by academics in sound art, visual art, voice-work and practice-based research to share my work as a model for creative research.

As the current Reviews Editor for the Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies, I am actively contributing to and supporting the emerging field of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies.

Education:

2018-23          The University of Exeter, Drama Department,
                         PhD in Performance Practice

2017-18           The Royal College of Music, London,
                         MSc in Performance Science, Distinction

2017                 Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts,
                         Feminist Perspectives in Sonic Arts

2016                The University College of Opera, Stockholm,
                         The Contemporary Performance Voice

2013-14           RADA & Birkbeck College,
                         M.A. in Text and Performance, Distinction

2009-13          The University of Edinburgh,
                         M.A. in English Literature