Cwen as Body

Thursday, December 20, 2012

OnePixArt + Jorge Kreimer

I just spent August 18th to December 9th in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. As I do primarily photo work, there wasn't much work for me there. I did one fashion show, where I wore my own clothes... and I hated it. I find that kind of thing pointless. All it says is, "Hey, look at our foreigners parading around like walking alone is a talent." I jumped right back into shooting, though, since I landed in L.A. I shot with UMBRO, as usual (and got some really awesome shots, as usual) OnePixArt, and Jorge Kreimer. Here are a couple shots.

More of Jorge Kreimer's work can be found here, and more of me from this shoot can be found here(until it's pushed off that page). I don't normally shoot such things, but I was quite interested in experimenting, using my face to its full potential. I am quite an expressive person, it just tends to be abandoned far too often. I really enjoyed working with him.

Above: OnePixArt. Old, but good. I love them.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

China.

I leave for Chengdu, China tomorrow. If things go well, I'll keep everyone updated. It'd be nice to continue shooting while I'm there, but it's unlikely to happen... unless I'm shooting myself. -_-'

More work with Ransom -- photos and video.

We shot my costume from Cupcake Cabaret (or, my rendition of "Downtown"). Here's what it looks like onstage. Otherwise, click and enjoy.

Teehee. Why not.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Behind the scenes of Cupcake Cabaret.

Lovely people.

Good criticism inspires.

When I took my portfolio to my first review at Maryland Institute, College of Art six years ago, I got ripped a new one. I didn't talk to my father when he picked me up afterward. When we got home, I went to sleep, miserable.

But when I woke up (from what may have actually been more of a stupor), I started working on all of my pieces again. I finished them, to the best of my abilities, and submitted it several months later. I got in.*

Nothing I make is ever finished anymore. But I'm constantly seeking to improve my work. If this time didn't go well, there's always next time.

And that's what keeps me alive.

* - Now I owe several tens of thousands of dollars. :)

Hahaha. Reviews on Cupcake Cabaret: A Brief History of Bad Women.

I would love to see more. http://washingtondc.showbizradio.net/2012/07/18/review-49p-cupcake-cabaret/

The show is witty, well paced and seducibly charming. Each lovely dame in the cast delivers her characters with sublime movements and compelling delivery, making the story each one tells alluring and gripping.

http://dctheatrescene.com/2012/07/16/cupcake-cabaret-a-brief-history-of-bad-women/

We do not go in for burlesque much in Washington, but to our northern neighbors in Charm City, it is a big deal. Burlesque is so much in the fiber of Baltimore that its chief sage and poet, the great H.L. Mencken, invented a term to describe the art: ecdysiast, meaning “an artist who, while dancing, takes off her clothes, for cash money.” So it should not be a surprise that for a show featuring ecdysiasts, the performers should be from Baltimore, here to take D.C. money. Thus in Cupcake Cabaret, the ecdysiasts – two attractive young women, Lola Rose and Patty Cake (not their real names), and a third attractive person, Cwen L’Queer, who, by the program appears to be keeping the gender options open, ply their trade.

http://www.dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2012/07/16/capital-fringe-review-cupcake-cabaret-a-brief-history-of-bad-women-by-julia-l-exline/

The dance moves are hardly complex, the plot is flimsy and redundant (I wish I had a quarter for every time Belinda shrieks, “dump his ass!”) and the cat-calls and hooting from the mostly-male audience as the girls strip down to their pasties is a bit unsettling. Burlesque, when done with exceptional talent and a solid framework for a plot, can be enthralling, but this insubstantial design just seemed like a seedy excuse for debauchery.

...shows me you can't take a lot of reviews very seriously. One review is glowing, the other are cloudy. My gender options are indeed open, but what an awkward way of presenting it. I'm certainly no actor, but I am a far more engaging writer than #3. If you "had a quarter" for every "Dump his ass!" you probably couldn't even ride Metro. The audience seemed more mixed than male, since I was looking at them, and if that little bit of hooting unsettled you, well. I question why someone so conservative would go to such a show in the first place.

No arguments otherwise. I look forward to the next show. <3