Gabrielle Civil is a black feminist performance artist, poet, and writer, originally from Detroit, MI. Her performance memoirs include Swallow the Fish (2017), Experiments in Joy (2019), ( ghost gestures ) (2021), and the déjà vu (2022). Her writing has also appeared in Kitchen Table Translation, New Daughters of Africa, and Experiments in Joy: a Workbook. She recently performed Jupiter at Velocity Dance Center (2021) and Vigil at Northern Spark (2021). A 2019 Rema Hort Mann LA Emerging Artist, she teaches at the California Institute of the Arts. The aim of her work is to open up space.