Artist biography

Jamie Black

Dramaturge & Earth Curator  ·  Shadow Play Collective  ·  Wild Craft Play

Jamie Black is a multidisciplinary artist and the founder of Shadow Play Collective, a practice rooted in the belief that story is one of the most powerful tools we have for confronting what we would rather not see.

Since 2006, Jamie has been developing an evolving body of work that moves between shadow, live performance, film, audio, and found narrative to illuminate the hard truths we carry — about land, water, and the waste we leave behind.

The current work centres on #CuratingCleanerWaters, a 12-minute mixed-media piece assembled from video, audio, shadow, and the voices of multiple contributors. It is at once a finished artwork and a living process: Jamie has discovered that sharing the work in-progress, and curating it in real time alongside audiences, has become its own form of participatory research. The act of witnessing together deepens the impact more than any polished final product could.

During the pandemic, Jamie worked alone on the darkened stage of Errington Hall, developing #MoveMountainsLikeMe, a solo work born from discovering a sword at the foot of Little Mountain in Errington, and the question that followed: What do I owe this place? The piece awaits its debut.

Jamie’s work resists easy categorization. It is mixed media, it is improvised theatre, it is environmental advocacy, and increasingly, it is a gathering point for communities ready to grapple with their relationship to the natural world. Whether in a festival setting, a community hall, or an unconventional outdoor space, the invitation is always the same: come as you are, and leave changed.

With a recent move to Quadra Island, we are inviting new Collective members. Reach out to Jamie if you are interested.

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Collaborating Artists

If you wish to connect with other artists who have engaged in the past and are active collective members, visit our Facebook Group page. 

Media Kit

Jamie Black’s story.

Grab a cup of tea and settle into Jamie’s story, and how Move Mountains Like Me came to be.

If you wish to invite anyone to join the movement, send them this eNewsletter link, or click the Current Story image.

A small group of youth and adults are producing digital stories to solve the plastic problems in the ocean. Wanna join? CLICK HERE to email Jamie.  At the Spring Beach Cleanup on Denman Island in 2022 with and for the Association of Denman Island Marine Stewardship Society, and Ocean Legacy.

We are searching for 2 different types of people to join our efforts:

Folks who wish to have a Sneak Peak of our work before it goes public and offer conscious criticism, feedback and recommendations.

Donors and Sponsors
If you wish to witness the journey of crafting engaging footage, and offering your feedback join our Inner Circle.  Contact jamie@wildcraftplay.com or click the button above.

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We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Artists.  Joanna Finch and Anand David Embry.  Both extraordinary musicians that have expressed interest in making a difference in this way. Stay tuned (pun intended) to witness the unfolding.

Curating Cleaner Waters is an initiative started in January 2022, currently inviting professional and amateur artists, musicians, storytellers, and movement artists to bring their creative selves in.  Step into the crafting studio prepared to move in front of or behind the screen, make improvised sounds, song, and magical being-like narration into the microphones. Or craft visual art on the overhead projector.

You know when you look up and see geese flying and you say out loud “Hey, Bob, we’re going the wrong way!!” in that funny awkward voice and it makes you laugh (or maybe that’s just me). Find your inner funny bone and tickle it with us as we crack open the issue of plastics and garbage in our oceans, narrating from the perspective of tiny “Ones.” Beings that are trying to get our attention, and are doing something, even though they have no idea WHAT to do or HOW.

Your funds are helping us capture the truth,

Craft the magic

and get these stories to the right people.

Join Now & Donate!

In the Spring of 2022, we were Curating Cleaner Waters in a Shadow Play at the Comox Valley Art Gallery Saturday, May 14th. We had a blast!

NOW, a small committee of youth and adults are meeting monthly to curate a solution for the garbage and plastics in the ocean, specifically in the Salish Sea. We are welcoming new people. Join by emailing Jamie.

Our Mission:
Create a mythical magical story to help humans fix problems like dead orcas who eat seals who eat fish who eat plastic.

Our Vision:
To move people who hear our stories and inspire them to make a difference globally.

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE INFO & HOW YOU CAN HELP!

How to Reach us

• Send us an email: info@wildcraftplay.com
• OR Sign up for our newsletter HERE

How to Contribute

• By etransfer, identify an easy password
• Paypal HERE

How did this production come to be?

We interviewed Liz Johnston to learn more about the issue that we are bringing to light.
Children at Wild Craft Play were invited to do a service projects by founder, Jamie Black. Once they decided they wanted to help the animals, we found Liz Johnston and the beach clean-up efforts.  Since we are in the realm of producing children’s stories through a magical experience of green screen, video projection, old school overhead projection, dance, art, music and ridiculousness, we asked if we could help, and Liz said yes.  She expressed that they have been trying so hard to affect change around this issue, and they need something different.

This isn’t just a production, it’s a movement, and it is in motion.

All efforts will be made to host the Spring Break Production, THEN we launch a marketing campaign that will bring this worldwide.

The Spring Beach Cleanup Production WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!!
Mar 28 to April 2, 2022
This experience created a production company that comes in, figures out the story, and produces it.  It’s not a typical camp. Think of it as becoming a family for a week.  There was some facilitation, lots of learning, tonnes of space for imagination and creativity, and lots of downtime to enjoy the wonders of Denman.

Join our Mission. Take Action!
At Wild Craft Play, we start with a sense of health and work our way to serenity and abundance.

Following the Earth Charter, we expand our capacity to become in-service to community, then reaching beyond our region, the sky isn’t even the limit from here.