Hello, my name is Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs. I am an Oakland-born, Los Angeles-based artist creating experimental, immersive public ritual with sound, sculpture, video, costume, and collective performance. My work uses ancient archetypes, canonized heroic narratives, and mythological tropes to explore structures of power and the actions we can take - both as individuals and collectively - to combat psychic and systemic oppression. The core theme of my practice is the conviction that the creation of new mythologies - “speculative mythology” in reference(/reverence) to the speculative fiction genre - can lead to the deconstruction of real-life hierarchies.
I am the creator/composer of the site-specific choral/movement ensemble, Song of Eurydice; teach Songbuilding workshops to adults and tweens; make up one half of the duo, Bouquet; and - with conductor Tany Ling - lead Community Chorus, a resistance-themed, commitment-free chorus that performs at justice-themed events.
I’ve presented work at the Getty Center, REDCAT, Hammer Museum, SFMOMA, the Broad Museum, de Young Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, MOCA LA, CURRENT:LA Public Works Triennial, Anchorage Museum (AK), Portland Art Museum (OR), Lamar Dodd Galleries (UGA), Cirrus Gallery, Clocktower, California Academy of Sciences, Henry Miller Library, Printed Matter, Bangkok University, Berkeley Art Museum, Art Basel Miami, Disjecta (Portland, OR), and All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival (UK)
I also compose original scores for film and TV - hit me up.
*Homepage image by Annie Gimas
*Background image photo by: Vanessa Crocini. Courtesy of The Broad
Press:
Trinie Dalton / Artforum
Travis Diehl / Frieze
Catherine Womack / LA Times
Brica Wilcox and Travis Diehl / X-TRA
Michael Slenske / LALA Magazine
Aminatou Sow + Ann Friedman / Call Your Girlfriend
Ryan Bradley / New York Times Magazine
Alyson Zetta / Rookie
Busra Erkara / Nylon Magazine (print)
Maura M. Lynch / Rookie