Presenter

CK (Kaia) Olsen is an artist, choreographer, filmmaker, and educator whose work explores non-traditional narrativity through spatial and temporal engagements, drawing on cinematic theory, embodied performance, and emerging computational practices. Kaia’s work has been presented throughout the United States and Europe, including 1Reel Bumbershoot, Alma Gallery, Chicago Cultural Center, Clinton Presidential Library, Gallery 400, HollyShorts Film Festival, Little Rock Film Festival, MECA Gallery (Almería, Spain), Miami Short Film Festival, Muestra Internacional de Videonarración ARTográfica (Spain), Music Box Theatre (Chicago), Rhode Island International Film Festival, and Sidewalk Film Festival (Birmingham). Kaia has also contributed to lauded animated, film, and television productions, including the VeggieTales® and Threads™ series, The Artsiders®, and Beneath the White City Lights. Currently, Kaia teaches experimental and digital film production at the University of Iowa while leading interdisciplinary research that bridges computer science, real-time graphics, cinematography, and dance performance. This work centers on Virtual and Light Field Cinematography, treating volumetric media as a site for embodied, spatial narrative, grounded in ethical, human-centered approaches to emerging technologies.