Efren Adkins Finds Their Fire In Chicago

Written by Vocalo Radio on February 9, 2024

Multimedia artist, dancer and teacher Efren Adkins has traveled around the world to demonstrate their practice — but they can’t imagine what their life would be like without Chicago.

Efren Adkins found their “fire” as an art student, while working with fibers at SAIC. Growing up in a small Arizona town on the Mexico border with a biracial, bicultural family, Adkins always felt like they were stepping “between worlds.” When studying fabrics and fibers, they linked the history of materials to politics and their own familial history — asking questions of origin, belonging and kinship.

“I liked … that there was a lot of care and thought and intention of where the materials came from, what history they have,” they said. “I just found that [these] conversations, really, were helpful for me and my growth as an artist … To me, the natural curiosity of making sense of where I come from was my starting point.”

^{Efren Adkins is a Chicago-based teacher, dancer and multimedia artist. This is what their Chicago sounds like. Ari Mejia | Vocalo Radio}

Evolving into their practice as a sculptor and installation artist, Adkins began combining various materials and textures with elements of their familial roots in ranching and hunting, as well as their childhood infatuation with trinkets and decoration.

“As an artist, I started … using found objects with textiles to braid everything together, all the ideas,” they said. “Maybe [taking] an object that, to me, had a lot of meaning in my family, [I will] assemble an artifact … and then using ropes and, again, different textures and fibers.”

Their sculpture and installation work is ultimately what led Adkins to dance: They started making sets for performance artists and eventually felt the calling to take center stage. Adkins found their practice in Butoh, a Japanese form of expressive, theatrical dance originating after WWII.

“[Butoh] works with energy in the body … feeling this energetic force inside of us, moving it,” they said. “It’s internal, but also connecting to the world around you. Finding that center yourself, but then dancing with someone else, dancing with the floor, dancing with the wall.”

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Adkins’s practice has led them to perform on stages in Mexico, Russia and Japan, but their creative hub remains centered firmly in Chicago. A regular collaborator with others in the city’s performance art community, Adkins co-founded arts and movement collective Burning Orchid in 2016 with fellow artist Rosé Hernandez. The duo has also collaborated with dance organization Antibody Corporation. Adkins says finding strength, power and bodily love through movement was revolutionary for their identity and confidence.

“If you would have told me that, 15 years ago or something, you are going to be a dancer, I would have laughed at you,” they said. “I’m a large person in a fat body, and [I feel] like I can be beautiful … I can take up space and do things.”

^{(Left) Adkins performing in Homoccult 2.0 festival at the Museo de la Ciudad de México in Mexico City, 2016. Courtesy of the artist, by Antonio Zaragoza. (Right) Performing with Burning Orchid in Shiryaevo, Russia, 2018. Courtesy of the artist.}

For the past eight years, Adkins has taken on a role as an elementary school art teacher, teaching 500 young artists from preschool through third grade every week. Currently, they are exploring ways to balance their artistic practice with their job encouraging creativity among the next generation of artists.

For this segment of “This is What Chicago Sounds Like,” Efren Adkins discusses their love of Chicago winter and finding their path into art, dance and teaching.

^{As an elementary school art teacher, Adkins encourages creativity among 500 young artists every week. Ari Mejia | Vocalo Radio}

How long have you been in Chicago?

I’ve been in Chicago for 16 years, most of my life. I’m originally from Arizona, very close to the Mexican border, a really small town. I grew up moving around a lot, but I landed in Chicago and I’ve been here longer than anywhere else I’ve ever been.

What brought you here?

Art school brought me to Chicago. I went to a community college, which was amazing. That was art-accredited. Then I transferred in as a junior to SAIC where I studied fine arts. I studied in the fibers department a lot, too, because I came as a drawing and printmaking-focused artist.

^{Arriving at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago to study printmaking, Adkins quickly found a deeper love for fibers. Much of their professional work has gone on to involve fabric and fiber-centered installations. Ari Mejia | Vocalo Radio}

What does your work look like?

I’d have a lot of personal imagery from my family history, and some of the influences were in things of animals. On my mom’s side, there are ranchers, and on my Appalachian side, there are hunters, too. I was drawing some things from history and drawing these fuzzy things, they were almost looking like abstracted Muppets. One of my professors, who was an amazing professor, but he kind of was a bit brutal to me. He was like, “These don’t have any fire.” That’s what I remember him telling me. I had taken an intro to fibers and I had made one of them as a soft sculpture. He’s like, “That has fire.” I don’t know why I didn’t take offense, because I’m pretty sensitive, I’m a Scorpio. But I was like, “Okay!” I also realized that I was not that interested in the printmaking classes. I loved the conversations that were happening around fibers, around slowing down, handwork, craftwork. It was more femme-centered, too, which I also loved — that it was a lot of femme people in my classes. Again, I just felt very embraced by the program. That took my art in another way, and I started making a lot of installations and soft sculptures.

Since I was little, I decorated everything in my room. When I was little, I had a miniature Christmas tree that I had all my own little things I put out. I was the one, my parents are probably like, “Oh my gosh, here we go.” I’m like, “The decorations, we’ve got to do this!” Objects and trinkets and little things have always had a lot of sentimental meaning to me. Then, as an artist, I started expressing myself that way, too, and using found objects with textiles to braid everything together, all the ideas. Maybe an object that, to me, had a lot of meaning in my family, assemble an artifact kind of, and then using ropes and, again, different textures and fibers. I liked also, working in this community, that there was a lot of care and thought and intention of where the materials came from, what history they have.

^{(Left) Performance ephemera from Burning Orchid and Nunn’s performance, “Mythosoma: The way of perfection,” 2023. (Right) Installation detail: Truth or Consequences, 2015. Both images courtesy of Efren Adkins.}

For example, I remember one of my professors, we were talking about how cloth is the first material that we come in contact with, besides human skin, that we’re wrapped in a blanket. Just thinking of materials in that way, what they carry with them, what’s the history of them, how they’re made. And then you can think of other things of politics, of where it comes from, who’s making these things. I just found that conversations, really, were helpful for me and my growth as an artist, my curiosity about where I come from. I think being from a bicultural and biracial household, there was always some feelings of not completely belonging, but also belonging in both. I’m kind of stepping between worlds. To me, the natural curiosity of making sense of where I come from was my starting point.

Long story short, I started making installations and I eventually began collaborating with dancers, making sets for performance artists. Then eventually, I was like, “I want to dance, too.” Which I never thought I would, but I started performing, as well. Chicago actually has a really amazing community for performance art, specifically, a community in Butoh, a Japanese contemporary dance and performance movement.

^{Adkins performing in Homoccult 2.0 festival at the Museo de la Ciudad de México in Mexico City, 2016. Courtesy of the artist, by Antonio Zaragoza.}

What is Butoh, exactly?

Some people have referred to Butoh as the dance of darkness. It was developed by these two artists in post-war Japan, at a time when so much horrific things had happened in the world and in the lives of Japanese people. There’s this kind of freedom of exploration. It works with energy in the body, and feeling energy, but basically feeling this energetic force inside of us, moving it. It’s internal, but also connecting to the world around you. Finding that center yourself, but then dancing with someone else, dancing with the floor, dancing with the wall. I’ve danced on some stages in different countries, I’ve been invited, as a dancer, to do things. Mexico, my partner and I went to Russia. With my collaborative partner Rosé [Hernandez], [I] have done this Burning Orchid and we collaborated with another group called Antibody Corporation. I danced in Japan. If you would have told me that, 15 years ago or something, you are going to be a dancer, I would have laughed at you. Because at middle school dances, I remember people being like, “Efren, come dance! Come dance!” And pulling me. I’m like, “No, I don’t dance. I don’t dance.” I had a real disconnection with my body. I think just accepting my body and who I am, and feeling okay. I’m a large person in a fat body, and feeling like I can be beautiful. Also, it’s not just about being beautiful in Butoh, but I can be. I can take up space and do things. That was revolutionary, in a way. That changed a lot of things for me, and my confidence and who I am.

^{Burning Orchid for High Concept Labs, fall 2015.}

Do you have a day job?

Right now, I am an elementary school teacher at an independent school in Chicago. I teach 500 artists every week, from preschool through third grade. I also had an anime, manga and comic book club of middle schoolers. I have 32 middle schoolers that I teach to every Wednesday. I’m very busy being a teacher. The way I ended up in this school — my car broke down in front of the school, and I was truly soul-searching at this moment, like, “What do I do next?” Days later, I met someone there who worked at that school that I broke out in front of, and they were like, “We’re looking for teachers, for after-school teachers.” I’m like, “You know what, I am looking to change work.” So I applied, and before I knew it, the art teacher was leaving, and the art teacher was like, “You’re amazing, would you consider applying for a full-time teacher job?” So I decided to do it, and it’s been quite a journey. This is my eighth year. I’m at the point, now that I have some years of experience under my belt, to think, “Can I have my art practice and be a teacher at the same time?” That’s kind of the mystery. I’m building that mystery right now.

^{Adkins became a teacher almost by fate; while at a soul-searching time in their life, their car broke down in front of the school. A matter of days later, they applied for a job. Ari Mejia | Vocalo Radio}

What neighborhood do you live in?

I’ve lived in Pilsen, or Little Village, for all this time, too. I’ve never left the zip code. 60608, thank you very much! It’s been beautiful for me. I can go my whole day speaking Spanish and not have to speak English. Knowing my landlords … They treated me like their grandchild or something, and have been so amazing to me. I felt held in my Mexican heritage and in my community like that. I worked in schools in my neighborhood. Chicago has just been a city like that for me — where, again, I feel very, very privileged and fortunate to have found work, and it has kept me working in things I love. Have there been hard times? Absolutely, yes. Still are hard times. But, again, the people here are what keeps me here. It’s what influences me. I’ve met so many amazing musicians, artists. I love the change of seasons, too. I don’t think I would like it to be sunny and 75 every day. Maybe I’m delusional. I am a little bit delusional, actually. That’s what makes me an artist, I think. I like to feel the cold and the rain and the sun and the fall leaves. Chicago just kind of keeps giving me more, so, to me … I can’t imagine what my life would be like without Chicago.

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