At the beginning of this project, a Model Call for queer models in the Providence area went out, and the response was amazing. Getting to talk to and meet so many queer artists and thinkers really strengthened this project, and myself. Each collaborator gave me explicit and enthusiastic permission to publish this information about themselves in order to spread this message of anger, defiance, joy, and community.
The details of each look were developed in conversation with the collaborator's personal goals and advocacy, with an emphasis on personal. At the beginning of the project, I would never have been able to guess the outcome of this research and partnership.
I dream to meet and work with people even half as amazing as each and every one of these friends. They inspire me every day. Listen to what they have to say and please, support them by taking further action.
Video Showcase
Lighting by JaLeel Marques Porcha. Song "Inextricable (Ft. Tess Elliot)"
Photo Showcase
Photo by JaLeel Marques Porcha, Collaborator Davi
Davi want you to know their roots. As a South American immigrant Peruvian trans femme Jew, they reject old notions of identity, loving themself in their entirety. This piece hopes to let Davi’s backgrounds take flight and express presence during times that push absence. Not only is the Hummingbird Nazca line stoned into the corset Davi wears, but it also will be Davi’s next tattoo! The gown brings traditional Peruvian textile gradients and is cinched by a stoned corset in the tradition of ballroom royalty realness.
Corset from scrapped leather chairs, gown from curtains, tichel from FabScrap upcycling in Brooklyn.
Zeinab loves her womanhood and her femininity, but after arriving at RISD went through a big questioning. In Farsi and Turkish, there are no gendered words, so among the things the US demanded she learn was the American gender binary. But for Zeinab, beauty is beyod such limits. During the Qajar era of Iran (1789-1925), royalty expressed their gender almost without regard to gender. Princess Qajar, an iconic symbol of Persian beauty before the Shah, had suitors flocking to her despite presenting as the epitome of non-binariness. Zeinab questions “If my country already saw beauty like that, why not now?” The poem she hand-painted explains that like the rain we must wash ourselves of old notions.
Photo by JaLeel Marques Porcha, Collaborator Zeinab Azizkhani
Photo by JaLeel Marques Porcha, Collaborators Davi and Zeinab Azizkhani
Photo by JaLeel Marques Porcha, Collaborator Ralph Skunkie Davis
Ralph's look started as a commentary on the stigmatized and weaponized notion of queer blood, politicized until we're not even allowed to donate blood to people we care about.
The look unfolded into a broader, more trans understanding of medical discrimination. Trans navigation of insurance, of horomones, and of mental health is not easy, and truly has drawn blood.
Lauren Smith is bisexual, biracial, and tired of being puzzled out. On her necklace it reads "greater than the sum of my parts," a take which strikes at the dominant tendency society has to reduce biracial people into identites to make them palatable.
She hopes to make it clear that life and love are nuanced and some things about yourself can't be changed. She says: "it is not my responsibility to quantify myself to you."
The carpet swatches cut into puzzle pieces, as well as the two orange-redish fabrics are from Rhode Island Recycling Resource Center.
Photo by JaLeel Marques Porcha, Collaborator Lauren Smith
Photo by JaLeel Marques Porcha, Collaborator Maria Yocca
Maria's look confronts disability and fatphobia in its themes. Having severe scoliosis, and thinking about ableist thought seeing people as "weak," we worked on the notion of spinelessness.
The balaclava piece is a bloodied spine in their control. The tag on the side of their dress reads "Fat is not a bad word" in consumer store font to normalize the reality of bodies.
The knit spine balaclava is naturally dyed with cochineal, and the Italian wool dress was fashion remnant.
Photo by JaLeel Marques Porcha, Collaborators Maria Yocca and Lauren Smith
Photo by JaLeel Marques Porcha, Collaborator Gabriella Etoniru
On their outfit, Gabriella comments:
"Black Queer and Trans ppl should not have to be strong all the time in order to survive. Black Queer people are also delicate, and silly, and fun loving, and sensitive, and hold so many other beautiful qualities!"
Gown made from unused quilting fabric, scrap from the Rhode Island Recycling Center, and lace strips from FabScrap in Brooklyn.
Jason is interested in the generational history of slave descendency, and African descendency. The golden chains breaking on his jacket symbolize the wild liberty of queerness in the face of such history. His golden heart on the jacket come from his understandings of queerness as kindness and love.
Tinsel and golden foil from the Rhode Island Recycling Resource Center, and pinstripe from unused stock fabric.
Photo by JaLeel Marques Porcha, Collaborator Jason Carroll
Photo by JaLeel Marques Porcha, Collaborators Gabriella Etoniru and Jason Carroll
Photo by JaLeel Marques Porcha, Collaborator Laney Day
Laney is Anishinaabe/Cree and Two Spirit. This piece hopes to combat the idea that gender non-binariness is something new, or white, or colonist.
In Ojibwe, Laney's collar reads "Two Spirit." On their sleeves, "We've been here, We'll stay here," as a message of Native resistance and presence.
Their look references in combination the ribbon skirts worn by Native women as symbols of pride and resilience to violence, and the grass dancing regalia typically worn by men in their own practice of remembrance and celebration.
Photo by JaLeel Marques Porcha, Collaborators Laney Day and Ralph Skunkie Davis
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Special Thanks
Special thanks:
Brynn Truscewicz, for advising the Wintersession ISP “Queer Rage: Expressing Community Stories through Co-design”
Lynn Hlaing, Kasia Hope, and the rest of the Fashion@Brown Design team, for critique, advice, and love
Jeung-Hwa Park, for teaching me how to machine knit
Geri Augusto, for allowing me to express counter-narrative through fashion design
The Brown Arts Initiative, for without their generosity this project would not be possible
