Hi there, person facing a screen, or screen-person?! I am Sara, Colombian, 30 y/o, artist in transition to other denominators. I am interested in technology and sociotechnical systems, yet I explore them through the lenses co-built with *art school* and my environment. Namely, stuff like critical or decolonial theory, paper, pencils and poetryesque thought tweaking techniques.

my portfolio: www.saramilkes.com

I will be starting a Ph.D. in Informatics at UC Irvine in the Fall and I am currently in an intermission between the end of my MFA, a job at an art gallery and the beforementioned Ph.D. in California.

Currently, I live in Chicago but my hometown is Bogota. There I left my collection of vintage dolls, whose growth has been stalled due to the mobile nature of being an international student. I did buy one recently in Alsace, so I'd be bringing it with me in case you are curious about it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I was always fascinated by the possibility of sharing spaces with people you wouldn't normally be connected to. Before Tinder XD. I want to see places, meet people and hear their stories, see the places through their eyes if they allow me to borrow them.

Interests

I practiced a number of martial arts. Although most for brief periods: I'm not great at discipline narratives. Some of the most recent I did, and very much enjoyed until I got injured, were Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai.

I have a vintage doll and toy collection. I enjoy reading about the materials they were built with and seeing how the representation of humans, women especially, varied across times depending on both the availability of materials and the cultural conventions in media. I collect mostly vintage fashion dolls (Barbie is the most famous of these and she came from a post WWII German pinup doll, Bild Lili). I also love tin and rubber toys from the 20s. I crave flea markets.

I absolutely love dancing. And I need to work out for my peace of mind!

• arts
• dancing
• working out
• technology
• martial arts
• informatics
• dolls

Music, Movies, and Books

I am open to other people's favorite music, my favorites are pretty malleable. I like massive attack, thelonius monk, simian mobile disco.

These questions are what made Alexa's conversation skills so bad.

I like art house movies but hardly remember their names or their directors. I recall visitor q.

I used to read lots of Georges Bataille. With school, I have only read papers for the last two years.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I saved an insect from a spider by freeing it from a spider web. Then was conflicted about depriving the spider of food.

Teach, Learn, Share

Anything I can learn and everything I know-

I'm trying to learn how to play the guitar. To be honest, I just started and am just trying to make my fingers obey my mind lol

I like collaborating to create stuff I and collaborators find interesting. Oftentimes it can be labeled as art, just because that's such a loose category.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can teach them some Spanish, maybe some French. We can practice our English. I can try to make Colombian food with you. We can go work out and dance! I'm pretty decent at salsa and will wiggle shamelessly otherwise (who knows when a viral movement will get started).

I can make a sketch portrait of you! I enjoy drawing and I hardly get to do it these days. You could be my French girl (kidding, but hopefully the reference made it through).

Countries I’ve Visited

England, France, Germany, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Colombia, United States