Stephen Swindell

When it comes to my art, it's all about the poi! If you don't know what poi is, I'll give you the brief run down: It's a type of "flow art"--Poi is an ancient art form with origins of the Maori Tribe Indians of New Zealand. In my context, it is a visual performance art wherein a set of bright lights affixed to ropes or chain are swung rhythmically around the body.

My style with poi is intense--it definitely keeps me breathing--to say the least! I'm all about strikingly explosive high-energy bursts, ice-cold timing, and whole body movements-- all woven together in fluid concert. That's what feels good to me. When I spin poi, I'm constantly bending, twisting, and contorting my body in order to make way for the pathways of the lights. I have been developing my ability to spin ever since the year 2000--Its is one of my greatest passions.

With poi I also make some really cool artwork (Well, I think so, you can judge for yourself! ) I paint with Light-- with poi. By utilizing some cool photography techniques, I take photos of my live visual performances and produce these amazingly colorful pictures, which themselves look like ink blots, except they're made of rings of light (basically). I then combine them in certain ways with similar images, like creating a photo collage. Then, with the work of some artistic vision, I come up with some designs that I think are captivating to look at...