Camille Pier
Camille Nestor Josie
Author and performer Camille Pier (they/them) has multiple names: Camille_Nestor_Josie for illustration, Nestor in slam poetry, Josie in cabaret shows and Pierre Rococo for the musical projects “Divinités”. Their poems, songs and performances attempt to heal, reveal and entertain. Care, pleasure and transmission is the triangle key to open and enter their universe between poetry, music and cabaret.
They were members of “Not Allowed - Glitter’s time”, a queer cabaret collective. They’re co-authors and performers of “La Nature contre-nature (tout contre)”, a show about sexual diversity within the animal species, written with the biologist Leo Palmeira.
Their album “Divinités” will be released in 2022. They work as interpreters for theater, radio and multidisciplinary projects. They create illustrations on paper, on walls, for their poems, and other poets.
Pierre Rococo
Picture: Jérémy Sondeyker
“Anxiety is part, even member, of the creating process. Enthusiasm as well, for sure. They support each other to build something that needs to appear, and every birth needs effort.”
What inspired you to get into your disciplines?
“Mostly the need to heal something inside or to find consolation. If possible, publicly. The witnesses of the poem/drawing/performance may heal/comfort themselves as well. For us, these rituals need to appear and happen with humor, or fake drama, or true tenderness and transparent vulnerability. In the better cases, it’s possible to balance and to switch between those different energies/emotions. In any case, it has to happen often because… nobody heals totally and forever. It’s an eternal need and practice.”
Did you have any influential role models? If so, who?
“The first models were cabaret performers, movie or cartoon characters. With time and deconstruction, they appeared to be very problematic, but it was the only representations we had during childhood in the 90’s and earlier. Now the role models are closer, real, fighting every day against discriminations outside and the internalized discriminations that we all have eaten. We admire, in the daily life, queer activists and artists, queer friends and siblings.”
Josie - picture by Sébastien Caramello
What is your creative process and what are the most important things you keep in mind when beginning a new project? Are there any recurring themes/issues you like to address within your work?
“Anxiety is part, even member, of the creating process. Enthusiasm as well, for sure. They support each other to build something that needs to appear, and every birth needs effort. The most important thing to remember is: when anxiety is at its highest point, then it’s the sign that we may find the most precious stone of the creation. So don’t be too afraid of this feeling. It’s the fear of “not being enough”, but it’s the moment when we dig into our powerful magic in order to grow (our selves and something else). It helps a lot to keep it in mind, even if it’s often AFTER that we remember that, hahaha !”
Nestor the slam poet
What do you enjoy most about your work?
“We create who we truly are through art. With writing and performance creation, the best moment is when the creation is done and we feel the space to celebrate, to share, to spread our joy, especially on stage. On stage, there is still space for creation but the security frame (poem/performance) supports any kind of risk. It’s very exciting! In the drawing process, the most enjoyable moment is when we take care of the tiniest details. It’s very satisfying to focus and see the creation appearing out of the emptiness.”
Camille Nestor Josie drawing
Ongoing project: mural painting for the Brussels Art Pole ( a queer and feminist dance school).
Painting is to be finished at the end of april 2022.