m a r i a _ c h a v e z

Born in Peru, avant-turntablist Maria Chavez currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Chavez's work is focused on short solo electro-acoustic sound pieces using a collection of new and broken needles that she calls "pencils of sound" and a selection of records, which provide the palette. Many of her live sound installations have focused on the paradox of time and the present moment, with many influences stemming from improvisation in contemporary art.

Her work has been recognized by the Jerome Foundation, which awarded her the Emerging Artist Grant by New York's Roulette Intermedium in 2008. In 2009, she became a recipient of the Van Lier Fellowship which is generously offered to young sound artists by The Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund of the New York Community Trust.

She has traveled extensively, sharing the stage with Pauline Oliveros, Alan Licht, Phil Niblock, and Otomo Yoshihide to name just a few. She has performed in venues including the Contemporary Arts Museum in Bordeaux, France; the Akademies der Kunste in both Vienna and Berlin; and Sonoteca in Lima, Peru. She was an artist in residence in 2008 with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and the DIA:Beacon Museum and will perform this summer at the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Christian Marclay's retrospective.

Maria Chavez can be contacted here

more information:

maria chavez website