Carmina Escober (b. 1981) is a Los Angeles-based extreme vocalist, improviser, and intermedia artist whose work pushes the boundaries of voice, sound, and performance. Through visceral sonic explorations, she delves into the emotional, political, ritual, and communal dimensions of human experience—challenging conventional ideas of musicality, gender, queerness, race, language, and the foundations of human communication.
As an immigrant from Mexico, Escobar’s practice is deeply rooted in interstitial states—those liminal spaces between worlds, identities, and borders. Her performances, installations, and film/video works create immersive encounters where voice becomes a force of disruption, connection, and transformation.
She has presented her work across Mexico, Cuba, Europe, the USA, and Canada, appearing at festivals and venues such as PST: LA/LA, Fábrica de Arte (HVN), Machine Project (LA), CTM Festival (BRL), REDCAT (LA), The Broad (LA), Borealis Festival (NO), The Kitchen (NY), The Whitney Museum (NY), LACE (LA), MACO (OAX), and MMAPO Morelense Folk Art Museum (MOR), among many others. Her deep commitment to experimentation and research has led her to prestigious artist residencies, including Montalvo (SF), STEIM (AMS), Binaural (PT), OMI (NY), the Electroacoustic Music Studio in Kraków (PL), iPark (CT), Echo Park Film Center (LA), Fonoteca Nacional (MX), Indexical (SCR), The MacDowell Residency (NH), BEMIS Center (OMA), The Hermitage Residency (FL), and The Chinati Foundation (Marfa, TX).
Escobar’s innovative projects have earned her numerous accolades, including three Endowment for the Arts grants in Mexico, the 2013 US Artist International Award for her work with Estamos Ensemble, a 2015 Master Scholarship from NALAC, the 2020 FCA Artist Award in Music/Sound, and NPN Creation Fund Artist grants (2020 & 2021). In 2022, she received the New Music USA Development Fund for her project Vox Clamantis.
She has collaborated with a wide range of artists and musicians, including Jeronimo Naranjo, Ron Athey, Natalia Pérez, Dorian Wood, Fernando Vigueras, James Magee, Carole Kim, Wadada Leo Smith, Raven Chacon, Asher Hartman, Oguri, Santa Sabina, Juan José Rivas, Milo Tamez, Madeline Falcon, Maqueos Filarmonic Band, Jaime Scholnick, ISAURA Quartet, Eva Aguila, Thollem McDonas, Vinny Golia, David Dove, Joe McPhee, Micaela Tobin, Sean Griffin, Yulissa Maqueos, Beck&Col, among many others.
She has developed large-scale pieces that merge installation, film, and experimental practices, including FIESTA PERPETUA! A communitas ritual of manifestation (2017), PURA ENTRAÑA (2018), Bajo la Sombra del Sol (2021). She has also composed music for films such as DOS ESTACIONES by Juan Pablo González (official selection at Sundance Festival), the short film PASIPHAE by Ron Athey, and performed as both singer and actress in the short film LADY LÁZARO by Mexican filmmaker Óscar Enríquez.
Escobar is the co-founder of LIMINAR, an experimental music ensemble based in Mexico City, and HOWL SPACE, a radical pedagogical hub focused on voice experimentation. She is a member of FILERA, a contemporary music, improvisation, and performance-based trio exploring the intersections of experimental sound and embodied performance. She also serves on the board of PADIOXH (Project for the Arts and Dreams of Indigenous Oaxacan Heritage). In addition, she co-directs Boss Witch Productions, a company dedicated to creating intermedia works in natural landscapes and unconventional spaces, where sound, ritual, and the elements converge to create transformative artistic experiences.
