The words "tendency to bleed" were written next to my name on my 3rd grade attendance list. As a nosy child, I understood literally what they meant then, but now, at 31, those words carry prophetic significance.  The title of my artist statement — an ongoing act of personal divulgence. I bleed every day, luckily not in a literal sense, but in the sense that I release my most profound and raw experiences into my work. I didn’t know what to do with the blood as a child, except to draw with my fingers the images that came pouring out of that portal linked to my heart.

Today, I understand that my art, much like blood, is vital. It is the material that carries my truest self, my divine revelation. My art is my exorcism and my ritual—a way of channeling what is unresolved, what longs to be seen, and what is longing to be transformed.

My name is Travis Coe, a proud gay Afro-Latinx artist, predominantly generating my work in rural America. I am a multidisciplinary creator committed to theatre and film directing, though my practice spans acting, scenography, cinematography, editing, deejaying, and producing. The lack of abundant funding for young artists pushed me to develop a versatile skill set, enabling me to integrate various art forms into a unique and personal "Coe-hesive" and "Coe-created" vision.

Unconditional love is the driving force behind my practice. It led me to be an avid researcher as I desired to know the alchemy of great theatre and film. I am such a nerd that in 2020, I created a blog GLOBAL PERFORMANCE SERIES: Virtual Venues During COVID-19. At a time when many felt lost, I shared stream-able theatre and dance performances from some of the best creators. The blog garnered 1,500 shares on Facebook and over 20,000 views and with messages from around the world expressing gratitude for my meticulous archiving. This was just one example of how my love for the arts compels me to share and connect with others. 

Love and blood are deeply intertwined. The act of creating is an act of love—a radical, transformative practice that emerges from the heart. My work spans theatre and film, solo performance and ensemble, documentary and experimental. It is rooted in personal excavation and collective memory. My solo performance SUGA was a journey into my Afro-Caribbean and Latinx heritage and my identity as a gay man in America. The work is about reclamation—of space, narrative, and practices that have been erased or undervalued. My practice of movement training, honed throughout my time with Double Edge Theatre, is a psycho-physical approach that unites body, imagination, and soul. This weekly action has become a way of excavating the beauty and turmoil that fuel my work.

I came back to directing by way of acting in SUGA, a journey that deepened my understanding of vulnerability, both in myself and in the performers or interviewees I collaborate with today. I am focusing my attention on projects that are about reclaiming and reimagining the stories of those who have often been forgotten or silenced. As I evolve, I get super excited to direct theatre in rural America that feels fresh and looks sexy, while deepening my integration of scenography, cinema, and technology. I hope to tour performances around the world. My film work, while currently about archiving history, calls me back to my earlier work, which surrounded identity, dance, and spectacle. I look to make poetic films that reveal the radiance of my soul.

My drive is the search for kaleidoscopic wholeness. It is physically demanding and requires a willingness to engage fully, to bleed out in the process. It’s small and daily work that requires olympic courage. It’s the long-term rigor of physical training and improvisation. It is fractal, complex and colorful. In that beautiful chaos we continue to find wholeness. 

A drop of blood—with love and stubborn patience—transforms into a work of art.