Page 19 - Vo Vo | FIX MY HEAD #6: QTPOC PUNK ARTISTS

We have talked about being a QPOC who never
really fits straight into punk, but not really
into white queer circles either, wanna expand on
those feelz?
I have pretty much come to terms with always be-
ing a freak and using dualities to navigate how
I feel around this. I keep a spiritual polarity
with everything I do, my thoughts, my actions,
my identities. I have to always be in an active
opposition to whatever I do. Binaries are social
constructs upheld by white capitalist patriarchy
and I feel like the only way to destroy them is
to embrace them as a whole. Back in the day it
was so hard for me to navigate this I flipped
out repeatedly, felt really non-human, like I
was not of this world and I thought of that as a
negative thing. I knew there were worlds beyond
straight punk show and hyper glossy queer scene.
Both spaces to me seemed really codified without
room for expression beyond the regulated aes-
thetics, boundary pushing became more of a going
thru the motion than a drive, something to do
because you have to. Its boring and contrived. I
see rawness pop out at me sometimes with lyrics,
music or someone’s actions in punk space and I
really have learned to center that and hold is
sacred because it is so fleeting these days. I
think that is a direct result of feeling total
alienation you are just an outsider, constantly
observing with a semi-subjective perspective.
I also deal with body dysphoria/feeling non-
human though research and practice of transcen-
dence; liberation theories only go so far and
can only happen within this psychical existence,
I seek to move beyond all that, like a post-
humanism denigration of the flesh. I know this
can probably be taken as like some privileged
cop out to never really having to deal with
issues that affect all of us in real ways but
I see this as a next step beyond while still
actively embracing and engaging in liberation
ideologies. I just see how these strategies and
tactics repeatedly fail us and I wanna find new
ways of resistance. These are just some ways I
deal with the weight of the world and how it
effects me in punk and queer circles. sorry if
it seems to go on off a tangent.
... And in terms of your experience studying
fashion?
OMG fashion is soo weird! This is my second
time going to school I wasn’t ready the first
time I was real young and very reactionary I
had no basis for my deconstruction or analy-
sis of damaging narratives I just knew it was
fucked up. I’ve come back a second time with
a lot more life experience. But I started out
as a poor ass punk who couldn’t afford pre-
made clothes all my friends were getting at the
mall. I would just buy things at thrift stores
and redo them. Then I started a store online of
things I started making my own out of thrifted
patterns. I had vague ideas of how to do both,
I didn’t really make any money and scrapped
the project after a couple of months. Going
to school was cool but in school I realized I
liked design and illustration more than draping
and sewing. I dropped out after a semester and