Kaj-Anne Pepper is ':Shorn'
Local avant-garde dragster Kaj-Anne Pepper has been all over town this year winning top-homo at Homo’s Got Talent, the Gagadonna edition of Miss Thing, and generally being an all-around drag superstar. In reflection Kaj-Anne has thought of himself as taking over Portland until ChiChi and Chonga burst onto the scene, but I think he can still claim some monarchy over our alterna-drag loving community.
Is is this balance of confidence and humbleness that compliment his amazing works of art. His upcoming installation and performance art work :Shorn – Cuts, Guts and Glamour at Half/Dozen Gallery (625 NE Everett #111) should be quite a feat of hair and amazement. With collaboration from Eric Sellers, Dallas Oliver and Nandi LaSophia this staged ritual will be nothing short of queer art religion.
Transforming the gallery into a dreamscape and a temple, :SHORN combines balloon and hair sculpture into an installation by Dallas Oliver with video by Eric Sellers, text by Nandi LaSophia and live performance by Kaj-anne Pepper. Curated, developed and conceptualized by Kaj-anne Pepper, :SHORN is a work in progress living in a liminal state between memory and presence, hopes and fears, spirits and bodies.
“My passion is to lead the queer community by offering myself as a dynamic force supporting the cultivation of new and exciting works.” It is in the spirit of that intention that I step away from the onslaught of production and take inventory of my accomplishments, failures, surprises and unexpected moments of glamour.
But after a grueling schedule, the death of his father amidst it all, and just needing to explore the world to further his art Kaj-Anne is taking a 2-6 month hiatus to reflect, heal, and enter into a period of development leading into a transformation. So this is one of your last opportunities to see a master in his “studio.”
Admission is free so if you haven’t been to church in awhile now’s the time.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Installation on view between 3pm – 6pm
Interactive Installation between 6pm – 8pm
Performance begins at 8pm.
Wow, thank you so much for this! I look forward to showing this work-in-progress and exploring some new developments at Half/Dozen Gallery!
I missed this performance because you reported the address incorrectly. It was actually located on NW Everett. Not NE. Sigh. Oh well. It happens.
CJ – I am really sorry about that. I admit, I often need a proofreader. It’s tough to edit your own stuff on a same day deadline but I will try to be better about it.
I also try to link either to the calendar, which is copied directly from press releases and/or events own websites so it’s always helpful to click links. The main blog posts do lean more toward the conversational than strictly informational. But again, I’ll do better. I promise!