Skeleton flowers bloom in the wooded mountains of northern Japan. When you see them in the sun, the plant looks unremarkable. A little clump of six-petaled flowers with yellow centers. But when it rains, the flower petals become completely transparent. They look like glass.
“To me, that’s the whole metaphor of the show,” said Degenerate Art Ensemble cofounder Haruko Crow Nishimura, discussing Skeleton Flower, a multidisciplinary performance about a woman using her substantial creative powers to transform her trauma into something beautiful. The piece premieres February 13 to 16 at the Erickson Theater.
Earlier this month, I visited Nishimura and DAE’s other cofounder, Joshua Kohl, at their house on a hill in Fremont. The place has become more or less a storage facility for current and future projects, which makes for dreamy decor. Neon-colored canvases line the wall. A tall throne entirely covered in faux fur stands near the stairs.
