Armstead:

The Poet, Storyteller, and Language Architect

The Why

All my life I was told I needed to change. To better fit someone else’s script of what I should be or what my life should look like. I’ve spent decades trying to conform to systems that limit, rather than encourage my own expansion. ADSS is me, on my terms, building what I think the world truly needs. Not more performance and fragile attempts at perfection. But authenticity, grounded in integrity. Work that makes room for truth over comfort. 

My name is Armstead. 

I'm a poet, storyteller, and language architect.

I’m the founder of ADSS Creative Studio. 

The Frameworks

I create immersive, liberatory experiences. 

Versescapes: Immersive poetry environments that blur the line between artist and audience (debuted at Small Works Gallery, Philadelphia, March 2025).

A Cappella Poetry: Rhythmic performance that uses cadence, silence, and structure to create music with words.

Literary Fashion: Wearable words.

All of this is rooted in Experiential Language Architecture (ELA), a framework where I use words not to describe, but to build. 

ADSS Creative Studio is where I build with ELA. 

The Journey

Since launching this website in the winter of 2023, I periodically return here to update my bio. I’ve gone through different iterations because each time, a different version of myself has been the one to write it. At first my bio was a poem. While rhythmic and unique, it was a version of myself that was still unsure of who I was and who I was becoming. At this point in my journey, I’ve worked through much of that uncertainty, and I’m ready to let my voice sing.

This is a new version of myself, so, a new version of my bio. 

I look forward to seeing how I, and ADSS, evolve in the future.

I hope you are too.

from love,

towards togetherness,

in forgiveness,

Armstead/ADSS

(November 2025)