Debra Kim Sivigny
I was born in Seoul, South Korea and adopted to the United States when I was five months old. I grew up in rural Connecticut to a Taiwanese mother and a second-generation French-Canadian father. My upbringing was a fusion of American and Chinese traditions—of pizza and dumplings, crosses and incense, canasta and mahjong. As a child, I loved working at my father’s workbench. The table was always full of scale models of ships, science fiction spacecraft, and sketches of Roman catapults. My mother taught me to sew and let me explore her old fabric stash.
When I attended Middlebury College in Vermont, I discovered that theatre was the best medium to combine all my interests. Experiences in costume, scenic design and modern dance helped me to embrace abstraction, hyperrealism, psychology and movement, as well as research and dramaturgical thinking. I pursued graduate study at the University of Maryland, College Park in costume design with designer Helen Huang. She was instrumental in helping me see myself as an artist and teacher, and encouraged me to be fearless in my pursuit of any aspect of the field.
My worldview grew from international travel and exploring the interplay between East and West. I wanted to reconcile my identities, and the Korean-ness that I didn’t acknowledge as a child. Growing up in a relatively racial vacuum, despite having Chinese influence, delayed my desire to seek out my origin story. I have never felt fully Korean, but I have also had trouble embracing an “American” identity in a nation that doesn’t always embrace its immigrants. Hello, My Name Is… is a piece that explores the meaning of home and placemaking for those who feel caught in between worlds.
I am attracted to hybrid and multidisciplinary work that explores the complexity of identity—work that challenges the creators and the audience to redefine their stereotypes and boundaries. The environment where I have found the most fulfilment is academia. I have been working with students at several universities for over a decade and they inspire me with their fresh ideas and persistent spirit. I have great hopes for future generations of artists as they challenge the theatrical form.
