Symoné (she/they) | Experimental Game Designer & Digital Artist, Performance Artist, and Creative Director.

Contact: [email protected] & [email protected]

Welcome! I’m Symoné, a game designer and interdisciplinary artist based between London and Kent (U.K.) and Washington D.C. (USA). My journey as a creator is multifaceted, intersecting between circus performance, cabaret, alternative theatre, videogames, and digital arts. I’m the founder of *Melanin Power Up!* an experimental games workshop and social meet up for queer, trans, and intersex people, supported by NYX Professional Make-Up and UK Black Pride.

About My Work

With a Guinness World Record to my name I have experience with clients such as La Soirée, the Royal Opera House, and Sony as a circus performer. As a creative director, I create small to medium-scale productions that blend circus, theatre, and digital media to explore the intricate relationships between the body, movement, and storytelling. Central to all my practices exploring storytelling with and about the body about and queering art. I am passionate about pushing the limits of how stories are told, particularly in the context of video games, where I experiment with queer protagonists and anti-games.

Artistic Themes

• Queering Art & Games: My work challenges traditional narratives, that dissect the fluidity of identity. This includes not only creating queer protagonists, gender performativity, but also rethinking the very nature of games by creating "anti-games" i.e. games with goalless, games with emotions and atmosphere as a primary focus, and using glitch as an ongoing aesthetic style.
• The Body: I work with themes of the body both conceptually and literally as a performer in my digital art/game design practice, particularly thinking about ways perception, the visual of physical skills, the mind, identity, and atmosphere can influence immersive experiences and narrative.
• Performative Storytelling: I delve into the performativity inherent in both theatre and video games, using the body as a medium to tell stories that resonate with consciousness and the power of the self.

Education & Community Engagement

I have a BA degree in Anthropology with The School of Oriental and African Studies (2015). In 2023, I honed my game design skills at Code Coven Games Academy (2022), where I was awarded a full scholarship. My dedication to the gaming community extends beyond my own work; I am the founder of Melanin Power Up, a social community for LGBTQIA+ people of color to learn how to create games, with a focus on accessible game design, funded by UK Black Pride and NYX launching in Autumn/Winter 2024.

Portfolio

This portfolio showcases my work as a digital artist/game designer, reflecting my ongoing exploration of interactive media. For insights into my performance, circus, and personal theatre productions, please visit my website at www.symoneperformingartist.com or Instagram @symoneforever and see my performance press kit here.

I’m currently Reading: The Queer Gamers Avant-Garde by Bonnie Ruberg

Portfolio

Selected Showcases and Public Talks

• “Black to the Future” The British Library Panel (2024)
• "Videogames, Performativity, and Storytelling” University of Canterbury Arts Panel (2024)
• “Highway to Infinity” Videogame Installation Queercall Festival (2024)
• “Highway to Infinity” Videogame Installation Arts Admin’s “Queer Clash Diary” (2024)