Lisa Bufano
Encyclopedia
Lisa Bufano, is a disabled American interdisciplinary performance artist
whose work incorporates elements of doll-making, animation, and dance.
, Bufano is a graduate of both Tufts University
and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA). A competitive gymnast as a child (and a go-go dancer in college), she became a bilateral below-the-knee and total finger amputee due to a life-threatening staphylococcus
bacterial infection at the age of 21.
, performing works variously choreographed by Victoria Marks
, Joe Goode
, and Kate Weare
to audiences in Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, and Canada, and has performed to a packed house at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
as well as at the Mikhail Baryshnikov Arts Center
and Judson Memorial Church
in NYC, among other venues.
Her dance work typically incorporates a variety of prosthetics and props (such as using orange Queen Anne table
legs as legs and arms), but she also includes segments where her unadorned body is the focus of the performance. According to Bufano she manipulates her body as a way to explore alternative locomotion, corporeal difference, and animation/manipulation.
Bufano lists amongst her influences medical drawings, historical wax models and dolls, and optical toys; flip dolls and paper dolls; the structural aspects of Japanese jointed dolls, Hans Bellmer
's doll work, Louise Bourgeois
' cell installations, and the animation of Jan Švankmajer
and the Quay Brothers.
She explained her aesthetic and political goals when she claimed that:
Originally based in Boston, Massachusetts, she currently has an artist residency in Boise, Idaho
. She is also a Franklin Furnace Fund
recipient.
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
whose work incorporates elements of doll-making, animation, and dance.
Early life
Born in 1972 in Bridgeport, ConnecticutBridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
, Bufano is a graduate of both Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA). A competitive gymnast as a child (and a go-go dancer in college), she became a bilateral below-the-knee and total finger amputee due to a life-threatening staphylococcus
Staphylococcus
Staphylococcus is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria. Under the microscope they appear round , and form in grape-like clusters....
bacterial infection at the age of 21.
Career
After losing her fingers and lower legs, Bufano began her performance and dancing career when a professor at the University of Linz doing research on the lives of amputees discovered her web page and offered her a stipend to perform in Vienna. She has toured (from 2006 to 2010) with the AXIS Dance CompanyAXIS Dance Company
AXIS Dance Company is a professional physically integrated contemporary dance company and dance education organization founded in 1987 and based in Oakland, California. It is one of the first contemporary dance companies in the world to consciously develop choreography that integrates dancers with...
, performing works variously choreographed by Victoria Marks
Victoria Marks
Victoria Marks is a professor of choreography in the Department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA, where she has been teaching since 1995...
, Joe Goode
Joe Goode
Joe Goode was born in Oklahoma City, OK in 1937. In 1959 he moved to Los Angeles, CA where he attended the Chouinard Art Institute until 1961.First recognized for his Pop Art milk bottle paintings and cloud imagery, Goode's work was included along with Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jim Dine,...
, and Kate Weare
Kate Weare
Kate Weare American Choreographer and Artistic Director of 21st century-Biography:-Accomplishments:.-Notes and references:* Reviews in Dance Magazine by Allan Ulrich...
to audiences in Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, and Canada, and has performed to a packed house at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
as well as at the Mikhail Baryshnikov Arts Center
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is a Soviet and American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974...
and Judson Memorial Church
Judson Memorial Church
The Judson Memorial Church is located on Washington Square South between Thompson and Sullivan Streets, opposite Washington Square Park, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City...
in NYC, among other venues.
Her dance work typically incorporates a variety of prosthetics and props (such as using orange Queen Anne table
Queen Anne Style architecture (United States)
In America, the Queen Anne style of architecture, furniture and decorative arts was popular in the United States from 1880 to 1910. In American usage "Queen Anne" is loosely used of a wide range of picturesque buildings with "free Renaissance" details rather than of a specific formulaic style in...
legs as legs and arms), but she also includes segments where her unadorned body is the focus of the performance. According to Bufano she manipulates her body as a way to explore alternative locomotion, corporeal difference, and animation/manipulation.
Bufano lists amongst her influences medical drawings, historical wax models and dolls, and optical toys; flip dolls and paper dolls; the structural aspects of Japanese jointed dolls, Hans Bellmer
Hans Bellmer
Hans Bellmer was a German artist, best known for the life-sized pubescent female dolls he produced in the mid-1930s. Historians of art and photography also consider him a Surrealist photographer.-Biography:...
's doll work, Louise Bourgeois
Louise Bourgeois
Louise Joséphine Bourgeois , was a renowned French-American artist and sculptor, best known for her contributions to both modern and contemporary art, and for her spider structures, titled Maman, which resulted in her being nicknamed the Spiderwoman...
' cell installations, and the animation of Jan Švankmajer
Jan Švankmajer
Jan Švankmajer is a Czech filmmaker and artist whose work spans several media. He is a self-labeled surrealist known for his surreal animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, the Brothers Quay, and many others.- Life and career :Jan...
and the Quay Brothers.
She explained her aesthetic and political goals when she claimed that:
Despite my own terror and discomfort in being watched (or, maybe, because of it), I am finding that being in front of viewers as a performer with deformity can produce a magnetic tension that could be developed into strength. I attempt to channel this tension by exaggerating the mode of physical difference (for example, presenting myself on stilts)."
Originally based in Boston, Massachusetts, she currently has an artist residency in Boise, Idaho
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
. She is also a Franklin Furnace Fund
Franklin Furnace Archive
Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc. is an arts organization based in Brooklyn, New York that serves to preserve and encourage the production of avant-garde art, particularly forms that are under-represented by arts institutions due to their ephemeral nature or politically unpopular...
recipient.