Morphae       

“Morphae is me, you, and us; the quintessence of my inner otherwordly perception of fae gender and the tumultuous ongoing flux of my emotions and thoughts.” Out of drag, I pursue a master's in medical studies to become a psychiatrist and spread awareness within this slow-evolving field about the medically specific and non-specific needs of trans and/or neuroatypical bodies/minds. Being directly concerned by those topics (transfem and struggling with anxiety, depression, and autism), navigating society and the medical world has always been a scary yet enriching journey which now is the fertilized soil Morphae is blooming from.”

Credit picture: @assbiri @typic.alix

What about performance and drag as a medium speaks to you?

“Through performance art, Morphae is an interactive healing tool that promotes self and community-based catharsis. Even alone in my room, my body and mind feel really stiff, restricted by the echoes of the « you shouldn’t move like this »’s and « you shouldn’t think like that »’s. My face’s shape in the mirror still shifts sometimes into grotesque and monstrous patchworks of flesh when I am anxious, scars of the children’s insults fired at me on my school’s playground. But now, along with multiple metamorphoses, drag has given me a space to soothe my wounds and progressively outgrow those insecurities. And I hope it will open new safe and experimenting grounds for the ones that resonate with me.”

How did you get your start in it and what inspires your work?

“It all started with Halloween which for the past 2/3 years allowed me to play around with makeup and costumes. My first performance was last November after an accident where I got badly injured in a white-tiled bathroom that I stained with my own red blood. I couldn’t close my eyes without having intrusive thoughts and graphic red-on-white images. I decided to perform this trauma and it helped me a lot to get rid of those remnant flashes though I still am really scared of bloody injuries now (quite paradoxical for a doctoress).”

Are there any recurring themes/issues you like to address within your work?

“The recurrent feeling people get from my work is dark, alien fairy creaturesque, surgical and melancholic. The comments about my work being too obscure hurt me for a long time but I now believe in the necessity of purging the torment and unveiling such taboos for the sake of our even brighter and more colorful glowing light. I mainly address mental discomfort and body dysmorphia/dysphoria through visual art from my synesthetic experience of life, my unapologetic love for science-fiction fantasy video games about magic, and my medically influenced take on transhumanism, biomimetism, and existentialism.”

How do you think the queer community can better uplift one another during these uncertain times?

“I think that while already acknowledging our privileges and internal biases, we could also start reminding ourselves that we, human and non-human creatures, all struggle in one way or another and that one’s pain isn’t to be compared, hierarchized, ashamed or overlooked. Joining our strengths and weaknesses, together as equal living beings, will allow us the redirect our thrust for survival not defensively against one another but in the sublimation of our queer lives towards a transcendental and cohesive multicellular organism standing for its own existence.”

What is your dream project?

“I dream of founding an establishment for medical and mental care for and by trans and gender non-conforming people; a space exclusively reserved for the queer community where we all can finally receive the care we need and deserve; a cultural space where we could also host workshops, art therapies, exhibitions, and seminars. I hope that it will be financially sustainable with the sole purpose of making trans care affordable and accessible regardless of one’s financial and administrative status.”

Upcoming events:

All Morphae appearances are listed on their « Find me » highlight on Instagram. More information about upcoming events is listed below.

“I am especially excited for the Rocky Horror Picture Show during Museum Night Fever because, given proper exhibition space, I will try to deconstruct the aristocratic perception of installation - performance art through a steady transfiguration of my persona. Also, stay tuned in the coming weeks for a Halloween surprise.”

  • Propagada

    @theagendabxl

    15.10.2022
    Doors open 20:30
    Drag & queer show 21:30 - 00:00
    Dj sets 00:00 - 04:00

    Entrance 10 €
    (no reservations, tickets at the venue)

  • Museum Night Fever

    THE ROCKY HORROR MUSEUM SHOW
    20.10.2022
    19:00-01:00
    @Cinematek

    The Rocky Horror Museum Show is a unique DRAG cabaret created by CRASH-TEST in collaboration with PLAYBACK for Museum Night Fever.