storäe michele with Courtney Kessel, gallery exhibition & installation.

because you're [mine.] , Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2024.

This title is inspired by the Nina Simone song, "I Put a Spell on You." We are embracing the concept of magic as resistance but also thinking about possession as self-possessed and a sense of ownership and dedication to one's self. The mobiles being little spells cast with intention, the magic is hiding in plain sight for those who do not know..."because you're [mine.]" reflects the idea that no one else has possession over the meaning or meaning-making or the object itself.

because self-possession is the antithesis to white-supremacist-capitalist-patriarchy. because our mundane gestures hold intentionality–our magic hides in plain sight. 

because our existence tells the story of dedication to one’s self, and as Audre Lorde has taught us, “self-care is not a luxury.” because we have mothered ourselves, nurtured our loved ones and still make time for self-pleasure(s). 

because we are ours.

because you’re [mine.]

storäe michele as co-editor & co-producer.

Humanitas: A Conscious Coloring of Kindness, a film by Jé Exodus Hooper.

premiered at the New York Ethical Cultural Society Lincoln Center, NY, NY, 2019.

Felix Adler (Ritchie Szoke), the founder and philosopher of the Ethical Culture Movement, and W.E.B. DuBois (Joe Tolbert), the author of “the Souls of Black Folk” and activist-scholar, are re-imagined in this histo-contemporary retrospective of July 1900.

We journey with Adler and DuBois through a series of poetic prose, soulful music and choreo-movements, as they stir in one another justice through a new lens of nonreligious ethics, African-based spirituality, and civil philosophy.

storäe michele as artistic stylist & costume designer.

New Sanctuary: a film & ritual , directed by André Daughtry.

featuring Ricarrdo Valentine and Orlando Hunter of Brother(hood) Dance!

premiered at Judson Memorial Church, NY, NY, 2017.

As costume designer, storäe fashioned garments for futuristic angels made from found objects and trash to be featured in an experimental documentary film addressing the inhumane treatment of immigrants.

Following Ramesh, a Guyanese immigrant, the film records his walk to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices where he was required to check-in three times per week.

storäe was deeply moved to have clothed the two angels who accompany Ramesh, adorn him with amulets, and dress the state-imposed symbol of criminalization and injury, his house-arrest anklet. 

This procession took place in public, with the angels performing a public declaration of his humanity. It was groundbreaking to witness Ramesh walk in profound confidence in the busy streets of downtown NYC, and to watch crowds of people make room for him in a country where he struggled to find such space.