Thea Rae

Thea spent their early childhood immersed in Native American culture through ceremony and life on the Seneca reservation. They later enrolled in Walnut Hill School for the Arts, before going on to study sculpture at Smith College and obtaining their Master’s from ITP at NYU. Not one to be confined solely to a traditional classroom, they continued their education training in circus arts at New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA), studied stunt rigging in Australia, and learned to become a sculptor.

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Thea launched their career in California, where they trained as a professional circus performer and coach while pursuing their artistic career. They had their first solo sculpture exhibitions at Basement Gallery (2010) and Skunk Funk (2012). Thea later gained international recognition creating large-scale rope and bamboo installations for events worldwide, including semi-permanent works at Thailand's Wonderfruit Festival in 2018 and 2022. 

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Presently, Thea's diverse talents inform a multifaceted career: they perform stunts for film and television, provide aerial rigging expertise for high-profile clients like Madonna, and apply their technical knowledge to climate research projects in Antarctica. They have shown their art in recent exhibitions in NYC galleries, and completed an artistic residency at Brown’s Island (2024). Their art reflects a deep exploration of movement and tension, informed by their varied life experiences.