I am Maria

14/08/2026

I can’t believe it! The first I am Maria! Bloom 🎶done. 🌹

Thank you to CARI Griffith University, Griffith University and Queensland Conservatorium, and to everyone who supported and facilitated the incredible events over the two days.

This first performance was such a learning curve for me bringing together voice, sound, movement, looping, video, objects, memory, and all the unpredictable things that happen when an idea finally becomes live performance.

There are things I want to change. Things I want to strip back. Things I want to deepen. And moments that surprised me completely.

Now I will take everything I learned from this first I am Maria! Bloom and begin shaping it towards my final Master of Philosophy performative exegesis on Friday 25 September.

You are all welcome. Details coming soon. 🌹🎶⭐️

Here are some action shots from the performance at UN/BOUND Festival today. Thank you Artemii Safonov for your wonderful playing and support 🙏🌹🎶

06/08/2026

📻Join me tonight on Ozone on 4ZZZ 102.1FM!

I’ll be chatting about my creative journey, my research, and the upcoming performance of I am Maria! Bloom.

If you’re free, I’d love for you to tune in and listen.

Thank you to the Ozone team for the invitation, I can’t wait to share this conversation with you all.

🎙️ Tonight on OZONE on 102.1 FM
🌸 I am Maria! Bloom

I hope you’ll join me!

31/07/2026

Happy Friday Everyone 🌿

I am Maria! Bloom is all about transformation and our human capacity for this. Here is a glimpse of Bloom, where I’ve used Valeria’s María Valeria Pazos incredible artistic contribution and incorporated it into the backdrop of the New Zealand bush.

This work has reminded me that sometimes the most meaningful transformations happen quietly over time. So much of life is believing we have to strive, prove, and push. But perhaps growth also comes from allowing ourselves to simply unfold 🌹

I am Maria! Bloom premieres at the UN/BOUND Festival on 📅 Aug 14 🕚11.45 on the Griffith University Logan presented by CARI Griffith University Griffith University Queensland Conservatorium

25/07/2026

I just couldn’t resist, here’s new artwork for I am Maria! Bloom, featuring Valeria’s María Valeria Pazos beautiful image and the symbolic rose that has become part of the visual language of this performance.

Please note the updated performance time of 11.45 am.

I’m looking forward to sharing this journey with you all at UN/BOUND 🌹CARI Griffith University Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University

24/07/2026

“They say she’s past her prime.”

I’ve heard that message in different ways over the years. Sometimes spoken. More often implied and felt.

This beat is dedicated to anyone who has ever wondered if it’s too late: perhaps this is exactly your beginning and you’re “just getting started” 🎶❤️⭐️

On OZONE on 102.1 FM 🕛 tonight! 🙏

14/07/2026

Deep in the creative process…💭
Here’s a short moment from I am Maria! Bloom as the visual world continues to evolve in preparation for UN/BOUND Festival.
There’s still much to do, but it’s exciting to see the many elements beginning to come together. 🪷🪻🌼🌷🌺

06/07/2026

A small glimpse into I am Maria! Bloom.

My days are spent creating this new work, and I’ve found myself returning again and again to the photographs of Otto Gilmore, which were taken at the El Shatt refugee camp in 1944 where thousands of Dalmatian refugees, including women and children, lived during the Second World War.

Who were these little girls?

Their hopeful spirits captured in a photo.

I am Maria! Bloom will be a performative work where like the petals of the rose new revelations are revealed. A reminder that we have the power to transform ourselves and all whose hearts we touch.

#❤️

📷Otto Gilmore

30/06/2026

Tickets are officially on sale for UN/BOUND Festival 2026! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

This feels a little surreal. What began as questions about voice, identity, creativity and belonging has slowly evolved into new music, poetry, sound works, stories and performance.

I’m excited (and a little nervous) to share part of that journey at this festival.

If you’d like to come along and experience where this unexpected path has led, tickets are now available.

See you there.🎉🎉🎉🎶🎶🎶⭐️⭐️⭐️

🔥Tickets are now available for the CARI UN/BOUND Festival 2026! 🔥

Join us this August for a festival of bold, boundary-pushing creative research across performance, technology, design, social innovation and community-engaged practice.

Across online sessions, a special Brisbane Planetarium program, and in-person events at Logan Campus, UN/BOUND invites us to explore what becomes possible when we loosen the grip of existing systems and imagine more inclusive, creative futures.

📅 Thursday 13 August: Regenerate – Online presentations
📅 Thursday 13 August: Release – Opening ceremony and Planetarium performance
📅 Friday 14 August: Reimagine – In-person sessions at Logan Campus

Expect presentations, performances, immersive works, workshops, exhibitions and conversations that bring artists, researchers and communities together.

Special thanks to our in-kind sponsors The Griffith Institute for Human and Environmental Resilience (GIHER).

Book your ticket via the CARI Events page: https://www.griffith.edu.au/research/arts-education-law/creative-arts-research-institute/upcoming-events

Creative Arts Research Institute - CARI Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University Queensland College of Art and Design, Griffith University Griffith Film School Griffith University

26/06/2026

Time to teach. 👩‍🎓

After a week of creating, researching, performing, organising, and dreaming, I get to spend the afternoon doing something else I love: helping others discover their voices.

Every lesson is different. Every student teaches me something too. 🙏❤️

Let’s sing. 🎶✨

26/06/2026

I am delighted to share that I am Maria! has been selected for the UN/BOUND Festival 2026, presented by Griffith University’s Creative Arts Research Institute (CARI) CARI Griffith University

Created specifically for the festival, this new 30-minute performance explores voice, memory, identity, and the possibilities that emerge when we move beyond traditional constraints and conditioned beliefs.

Blending voice, piano, electronic sound, and curated video, the work invites audiences into an immersive space of listening, reflection, and connection. I am thrilled to be joined by pianist, Artemii Safonov with visual elements developed in collaboration with Mexican visual artist Valeria Pazos María Valeria Pazos

As part of my ongoing Higher Degree Research project, this performance continues my exploration of voice as memory, connection, and creative practice.

📍 Griffith University Logan Campus Auditorium
🕒 3:00pm

I look forward to sharing this new iteration of I am Maria! as part of the UN/BOUND Festival 2026.

More details to come.come.

I am Maria! Hero image Jane Long