• Young woman playing an electric guitar and singing into a microphone, with a drummer in the background, in an indoor performance setting.

  • A woman with long, wavy blonde hair wearing a black dress, standing with her hands clasped near her collar, in a dark room with blurred dark shapes in the foreground.

  • A glass jar with a handwritten note floating inside, surrounded by other jars with cork lids, all on a wooden surface.

  • Art piece on a round wooden frame depicting a reclining woman with clouds in the background.

  • A vintage wooden wall clock with a dark silhouette of a hand reaching out, mounted on a light-colored wall.

  • Musicians playing a double bass and an electric guitar in a room with artwork on the wall.

  • A man sitting behind a drum set holding a stick, with a person playing an acoustic guitar nearby, in a room with abstract wall art.

  • A circular object with black, white, and cream-colored marbled patterns, embedded with thin, tangled gold-colored threads, mounted on a white wall.

  • Three framed decorative items hung on a white wall, with shadow effects visible below each frame.

infaelith

infaelith

“Mytho-poetic music and dance ritual…”
— Matt Cosper, Queen City Nerve

Flowing from creative collaboration between disciplines, INFAELITH is a conceptual manifestation of the original literary, lyrical, musical, and chorographic work of singer-songwriter and author, Mariah van Kleef —interpreted and performed within an unforgettable, immersive art exhibition by Victoria Byers.

A highlight of the event features outstanding choreography by Janise Lenet-Rodriguez, performed by Laura Isabel and Keegan Martin. This dance piece occurs during a deeply rousing live performance of ‘Siren’s Raid’ by Van Kleef and her accompanying band.

INFAELITH explores mythological femininity throughout written history: with focus on Sirens, Lilitus, Selkies, and Crones.

This project is also highly personal, as it reflects Mariah’s journey with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser Syndrome (MRKH), a rare birth defect affecting 1 in 4,500 women worldwide. While the project themes touch on the ‘fatal flaws’ of her own story, the deeply relatable human dilemma regarding lovability - or the lack thereof - is universal. And so can be our resilience.

INFAELITH’s debut was honored in collaboration with the UNCC Department of Art and Art History. A goal of this project is to raise awareness and resources for essential counseling, treatment, and support for a noble, but mostly invisible population that Mariah deems ‘MRKH Mermaids’ — a direct nod to the inherently infertile plight of that archetype.

Expressed through music, fine art, dance, classic storytelling, and a brief art history review, INFAELITH brings a cohesive manifesto to the world stage.

“Transcendent...”
— Pat Moran, Queen City Nerve

If you would like to learn more,

contribute,

or hear tell when the Sirens of INFAELITH will be raiding your city…