We’d love to start by exploring the origins of your own artistic practice as ØFFERINGS. What would you say are some of the biggest influences that have shaped the way you approach and execute art and what were some key areas of interest that you explored initially?
Great question! For some reason, I have never really feared trying, testing, iterating and experimenting with new materials, processes or practices because it brings me joy! The thirst for new knowledge combined with a few key ingredients including space, curiosity and play alchemised into radical and dynamic invention. Over the years I have been distilling these processes and they have evolved into UnitePlayPerform’s methodology, which is applied through embodiment practices. My aesthetic is full-throttle fantasy with the intention to not just surround the community with art, but also invite full participation. I am always deep diving into mythology, folklore, wisdom traditions, ritual, ceremony, metaphysical and esoteric studies, states of being, sci-fi fantasy, archetypal theories, socially engaging activism, counter culture movements from the 60s and 70s, self-healing modalities, subcultures, pop history, immersion, participation, convivial communities, micro-utopias and contemporary art.

In addition to art and performance, your work also features experiential elements. What drew you to the realm of experience design and the use of immersive environments as a vehicle to provoke, disarm, educate and heal?
Coming from the underground scene, where abandoned warehouses and vacant buildings were my playground, I was creating gallery-worthy works that had no barriers between the art and humans who experienced them. I didn’t have any set rules because the experiences I created were invitational and not advertised to the general public. I let people use their imagination, self agency and common sense to figure out what to touch, taste, move, build and explore. I also accepted that things might be destroyed as part of these guided journeys of sensory art and experimental play. My work didn’t fit into a box, neither did I, so as symbiotic entities we had room to get radical! I started to feel that something special was missing in public galleries, museums and spaces which were dominated by voyeuristic approaches to experiencing art.

I noticed an alchemy in my own projects that addressed the missing ingredient – human connection. Immersive, experiential art is a way to deepen the experience of art. I aspire for people to integrate art within the body as an imprint and as a way to make meaning. I think modern humans are seeking out new ways to disarm, soothe and soften their edges, looking for agile spaces that provoke and show their edge, and their capacity to take risks and make choices. They’re looking for education with guidance and space for self exploration. Modern humans are bringing in healing modalities to support the regulation of their systems and attuning to their own needs and wants. UPP is exploring radical new ways where art and experience design meet and create “space for possibility”.

You’re the founder and driving creative force of UnitePlayPerform, an arts health organisation that’s all about enhancing wellbeing through creativity. How does UnitePlayPerform operate and what first inspired you to start it up?
UPP operational systems reflect our vision for humanity. These new pathways reflect and mirror what we want to see in the world. UPP is heart-led and designed, embracing feminine structures and allowing our thoughts, ideas and vision room for change in a playful space of experimentation. This supports us to become evolutionary leaders with adaptable approaches. UPP is a response to the isolation and segregation of society. Personally I witnessed the slow and silent division of global communities, disconnection and the displacement of humans in 2020 when the pandemic hit us all. This really amplified the restless urge to do more, do better and to design new pathways specifically built to enhance community connection.

The UPP Method™ is a transformational therapeutic methodology that UnitePlayPerform is pioneering – can you share any insight into this method and what it aims to achieve?
The UPP Method™ is a sequence of practices applied through embodied application. Humans can explore, experiment and activate this method in their everyday lives. UPP Method™ is underpinned by neuroscientific research to disarm (themselves in safety), disrupt (their habits with risk and choice), unite (in creativity), play (as learning), perform (new narratives) and transform (taking new insights into the world).

We aim to create long-term change in humans through community-engaging spaces because we know that we are better together! We need spaces to help us re-learn how to co-create, co-regulate and practice our relational rhythms. We map UPP Method™ as an experience design over all of our Playshop programmes, public art exhibitions, immersive dining experiences and mentorship programmes.

UnitePlayPerform hosts everything from multi-day retreats and workshops to gallery exhibitions and immersive dining experiences. What would you say is the common theme or element that tethers all UnitePlayPerform works?
The method creates the journey, we are always creating space for possibility through connection and play!

In addition to your own creative influence, you work with thought leaders, innovators, neuroscience theorists, cultural strategists, artisanal makers and play design experts to shape your immersive programs and achieve wellbeing-enhancing outcomes. In what ways have these individuals shaped your own perception of what art can achieve and the possibilities of how it can be accessed and consumed?
It is exhilarating to see UPP’s council of experts and specialists organically magnetise towards our core values, method, purpose and long-term vision. I think having advisors, mentors and strategists within this space means I can keep reviewing best practice, duty of care and have critical voices to bounce off. UPP is an exciting new space for possibility, which is super cool but also challenging because we don’t have other entities to compare it to. It is vital that our council is investing their hearts, minds and experiences as UPP evolves and grows. UPP’s council holds the vision with me as a supportive community network and we are better together! This year there’s potential to collect data, develop concepts and present ideas collaborating with some really interesting scientists and researchers who are working closely with long term degenerative disorders. It’s an exciting time as we pioneer new pathways into the unknown!

What are some of the positive impacts and outcomes you’ve seen as a result of UnitePlayPerform’s work so far?
UPP serves future-facing humans who are looking for new ways to change habits, patterns and behaviours that hold them back from being in true purpose. Some of the things that our UPP participants struggle with are disconnection to self and others, a lack of belonging, loneliness, fatigue, burn out, anxiety, lack of self safety, unhealthy boundaries and no space for self enquiry. Many humans raise issues with risk taking, making choices, being authentic and lack a clear path to their true purpose. UPP participants are seeking joy-filled spaces for play and self discovery.

In guided experiences participants move from these rigid stagnant states of being into attunement, momentum and flow state through the embodied application of the UPP Method. Participants use object art, space, sense, movement, language and energy for radical self-expression, safely practicing courage, integrating gained insights and experiencing liberation and increasing genuine connection to self and others.

The positive outcomes include supportive spaces that feel safe to open up, lean in and explore their edge. They trust their own self agency, create new language around their felt sense, take risks, listen better, share more and connect deeply. Through embodied application participants integrate insights that help them to be more accountable and acknowledge their new commitments to making long term change through joy filled, play based experiences.

UnitePlayPerform is hosting a technicolour party at Museum of Brisbane’s participatory exhibition Play Moves until April 16. Can you give us any hints as to what attendees can expect?
Brisbane community can book into one of our wild Playshop experiences happening throughout late March. Museum of Brisbane is opening its doors after dark for a wildly playful night in the museum! We are launching a new Playshop called ‘Utopia’ and our hugely popular Kinship Playshop experiences. ‘Utopia’ participants choose, build and embody your very own soft sculpture wearable artwork. Become a hyper-real avatar, a psychedelic creature, your favourite plush toy! I will be live looping sound scapes and we will all create a spectacular ceremony using sound tools, healing tools, voice, movement and energy. Kinship, participants will activate a 4-m-wide psychedelic Playmat and use colourful ritual tools, crystals, vessels and object art to build a large-scale collective shrine! This is hyper-real fantasy, community connection and we will move, voice, and manifest our collective vision.

UnitePlayPerform will be hosting two sessions of its ‘Kinship‘ playshop on Thursday March 23 and two sessions of its ‘Utopia‘ playshop on Thursday March 30 as part of Play Moves. Be warned – limited spaces are available for each playshop and they are selling out quickly!