Ava Malia (she/her) is a Maui-based lighting design student going into her senior year at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama.
Born and raised on the island of Maui, Hawai'i, Ava grew up surrounded by vibrant colors wherever she looked.
Ava grew up dancing and creating art, and eventually fell in love with lighting design for its ability to manipulate human figures with color and shadow. Growing up surrounded by such vibrant colors and light is the largest thing she credits her ability to think about performance lighting in abstract ways to. Her favorite medium of performance is movement and dance, and just finished working with the American Dance Festival.
Along with lighting design, Ava has been interested in film and photography for as long as she can remember. She has spent countless hours shooting and editing, and is working towards fulfilling a minor in photography at Carnegie Mellon. She mostly works with her Fujifilm X-10, but has also spent a fair amount of time studying the process of black and white film shooting and development.
Outside of the theater, Ava enjoys hiking, dancing, running, and traveling to new places.