My name is Christian Howard (all pronouns) and I’m a creator and educator living and working on occupied and unceded Tongva land (Los Angeles). I focus on designing spaces—both physical and digital—that utilize play as a tool for engaging with complex, often uncomfortable topics. This work has taken the form of video games, live action games, immersive experiences, guided meditations, and interactive storytelling. These environments serve as platforms for exploring themes such as personal and collective purpose, the legacy of colonialism and white supremacy, compassionate leadership, and the collaborative development of equitable technology. By leveraging play, participants can engage with these challenging subjects in ways that are both profound and accessible, often tapping into unconscious understanding.
In making these spaces I pull from the roles I occupy in other parts of my life: Tibetan Buddhist, meditation teacher, death doula, cultural strategist, partner. I find myself most alive in collaboration with others. Conversations–deep, unflinchingly open ones–drive me back, again and again, toward my own creative spark. So with the inspiration of friends who are what I might call, “social artists” who practice in art making and are never separate from the communities they’re creating from or creating for, my work has evolved to be both a practice of making spaces, and a practice of using those spaces to build capacity and care for community.