Fish Factory

Helen Lee (they/she) is a Queer Asian Chicago-born interdisciplinary artist raised by immigrant parents from South Korea. They received an MFA with a focus in Performance and Film from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA in Dance with a minor in Theatre from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. They have been teaching yoga, meditation and mindfulness since 2007. That same year, they formed Momentum Sensorium, a project-based company that has created and choreographed for See Chicago Dance, Out of Site, APIDA Arts Festival, and sometimes in unconventional locations such as lighthouses, train stations, and attics. Much of their work focuses on the senses, death, and the entanglement of light/shadow, joy/grief, celebrating Asian voices and Black and Asian allyship. They have presented works in the US, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Iceland, Finland and Canada. Helen was selected for 2022 Newcity Breakout Artist and 2024 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist.

Returning to Iceland in the wintertime was something I didn’t think I could do because I was scared. I was first at the Fish Factory June 2019 working on taxidermy. The abundance of light was magical and wanted it to go on and on. I never wanted to be in the dark. Since my first visit, after losing 9 people in 2 years, I felt ready to welcome in the darkness. Surprisingly, the longer darker days were not as dark as I thought they would be and I found myself longing for more of it. I spent time sitting with myself, not giving myself deadlines or goals. I turned 46. I wrote, I danced, I threw on the wheel, I threw one against the wall, I screamed in the mountains, I saw Aurora. The time I spent with the artists in this residency was special and will hold them and February dear to my heart.

Thank you Helen, and see you again!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momentumsensorium/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/momentumsensorium