Artists
October 26th, 2023. Berlin
Freddie Wulf (he/him)
Freddie Wulf makes visceral & visual performance. This often involves movement, video, sound, fragments of drag, and something sticky like fake blood or bright blue goo. Freddie studied Scenography before working in drag & cabaret. In 2015 s/he won The Glory London’s MAN UP Drag King Competition. In 2021 he received a Fierce Further Commission (UK) and in 2022 the Jerwood New Work Fund (UK). Positionality: Freddie is trans masculine, white, British and neurodivergent. His work is sex positive & draws from kink methodologies.
www.freddiewulf.com
Photo by Manuel Vason
Photo by Kim Wichera
Genesis Victoria (they/them)
Non-binary Sound and performance artist Chile, 1989. Master’s degree in Sound Studies and Sonic Arts at UdK Berlin.
Their work consists of creating experimental sound systems and performances for specific sites, creating haptic-sexual ritual experiences with speakers, microphones and sounds through bodywork, from a post-acousmatic queer feminist decolonial approach. Their sound systems are considered ecologies where all participants, human and non-human, create a temporary sonic community, where sounds and gestures create an aesthetic field of diverse sonic zones and/or textures and relations. Their performances respond to the specificity of the sites: their memories, stories/History, material qualities, acoustic, placement and so on.
Photo by Spencer James Weidie
holly sass (they/them)
holly is a trans multi-disciplinary artist and bodyworker, based in berlin. from 2011-2022 they were based in new york city, freelancing as a dancer, performer, choreographer and movement director for stage and film. as a dance film editor their work has been presented at dance on camera (lincoln center, nyc). they received a bfa in dance at new york university's tisch school of the arts.
in 2021 they were a solo artist in residence at triskelion arts, where they began a long form project entitled returning before leaving, which cultivates a creative environment to fully witness parts of self before shedding them, particularly in the context of transness. this process involves a practice of movement improvisation and painting.
since 2017, holly has been co-directing breaktime, a site-fluid reservoir for bad ideas, generated and performed with jonathan matthews-guzmán. they have performed, taught and engage in artist residencies extensively throughout new york city and the usa in the context of dance, theater, clowning, and site specific work. more info at clickonbreaktime.com
outside of creative movement, holly paints, sings and takes film photos.
website: hollysass.com
October 1st, 2023. Poznań
The artists in Epicenter Six all reside in Poland. They were gracious in writing their artist statement in English.
Piotr Szczęsnowicz (she/they)
Piotr Szczęsnowicz is a queer, non-binary interdisciplinary artist based in Warsaw, Poland. They engage with performance, video, installation and graphic design. The topics they discuss oscillate between exploring their identity, showcasing queer perspectives and the critique of normativity. They address both personal and social issues by treating their practice as a way of working through them. They focus on gestures and analyze their contexts and meaning. Movement is very important in their work as an expression of interpersonal, social and intimate relationships. Their work aims to engage observers by encouraging tender observations and in-depth analysis.
In 2022, they graduated with chancellor’s distinction from Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Media Art.
Photo by HaWa
Vero Uršnik (they/them)
Vero Uršnik is a content creator, model and grassroots activist for trans rights and non-binary recognition based in Kraków, Poland. Started performing as a drag artist Aršenik in 2023, their persona visually inspired by underground culture of Berlin techno scene. They perceive performance art as a way to explore themes of shame, prejudice, anger and vulnerability - an ode to the unwavering spirit of those who have faced the tumultuous tides of self-discovery. It invites you to witness the power of performance art as a vehicle for profound social change and personal revelation, all while celebrating the courage and beauty of the queer transgender community.
instagram&Tiktok is @ismivero
Photo by Kamila ig @okttopusia
Kai Milačić (he/him)
I'm Kai, trans visual artist, painter and actor. In my work I like to portray different connections between body and mind. I'm inspired by human body how it moves what is capable of how you can read from it. I like to find beauty in uncommon places, I like to capture moments and feelings in my art.
instagram.com/kai_the_failed_artist/
Photo by Kacper Salamon
Photo by Klarens Matusiak
Klarens Matusiak (they/them)
Klarens is a white genderfluid transmasculine person born in 2002 in a small town of Łask, Poland. They currently live in Poznań, where they are pursuing a Master’s degree in Psychology at Adam Mickiewicz University and fulfilling their calling to open the world for others by teaching English. Their fascination with the human mind leads them to constantly asking questions about the true nature of our cognition and perception.
While their preliminary medium is writing, most often dabbling in poetic essays with strong
expression of complex emotions, they want to find different ways for their artistic pursuits and
unlock the true potential of their creative psyche. In their art, Klarens toys with the themes of
erasure and passing, both in light of positive growth and heartbreaking loss. An area they find to be especially captivating and inspiring is the clash between individual queerness and common aggression aimed at the trans community. A medium the y are strongly connected to is water, seen as a source of life and a means of destruction, as well as blood, seen as the symbol of aggression, but also of bonding, love, and trust. Their sanguine fascination has been with them since their earliest days, gu iding them in their artistic exploration and leading them to discovering the special value of gore and subtly diminished violence.
Apart from their art, Klarens seeks to understand the nuances ruling over communication and
mutual understanding between people. They plan to do research on underrepresented identities and their coping with bias and stereotyping. They are also an avid fan of all things linguistic.
instagram.com/klarify_please
Babcia (they/them/she/he/her/him)
My name is Babcia.
I'm a creator of performance art based around horror and filth. Whatever i make, i try to picture in the most visceral way possible. I use the imagery of suffering flesh to connect me with my inner self. Others may watch and suffer as well. Everything i have is given by god that is good.
Photo by @pat0laska
Photo by Paul Koncewicz
Marek Tomasz Jezior (he/they)
Jezior is an author, language lover and a very tired trans person.
Born in 2001. Having moved to Poznań over two years ago, they graduated from Applied
Linguistics at Adam Mickiewicz University. They plan to continue their education in the near
future. He is a translator, tutor and likes to take unexpected jobs.
He is a co-organiser of JO! - International Improv Festival, where he is one of the sound
technicians and works with the artists performing.
He believes in the power of sharing experiences. He describes the realities of being a
transgender person in Poland on his Instagram, as well as organises Queer Film Meetings,
cyclical events dedicated to discussing LGBTQ+ cinema. He also appeared in the film
“Fanfic”.
Their texts, often focused on queer issues, were published in multiple zines and online
magazines. He explores the themes of mental health, identity and transmasculinity. He also
took part in speaking panels connected to issues of gender and queerness. Additionally, they
are involved in language consulting, to ensure the vocabulary regarding LGBTQ+ is correct
or that Polish contexts are understood elsewhere. The evolution of vocabulary for the needs
of queer and trans people is one of the intersections of linguistics and activism that interest
him the most.
Privately, they are a biking enthusiast, love fresh bread from fancy bakeries and coffee. They
take interest in contemporary art, documentaries and sailing.
instagram.com/marasjezior/
fairiestakeover (they/them, she/her)
Non-binary sound artist and performer based in Poznań, Poland. Exploring experimental music and soundscapes in their little home studio. Recently also creating sounds/music for art/performances.
They participate in the local dance/move performances focused on human relationships, social constructs, ecology. Music, move and touch is what brings excitement and reconciliation with the reality to their life. Relationships with other people are at the core of their understanding and love of the world. They stand against political, religious and social oppression which are a serious threat to people’s freedom in Poland these days.
Photo by Natalia Krata
Photo by Michał Zawisza
Photo by Rüya
Michał Zawisza (he/they)
Michał is a non-binary person currently residing in Poznań, Poland. He is about to start his studies in Geological Engineering at Adam Mickiewicz University.
Michał was born in 1999 and received strict Catholic upbringing in a small village in northern Poland where he felt pressured to hide his true identity. His path to discovering his preferred gender expression – at first trying to be hypermasculine, then experimenting with transfeminine transition, and ultimately struggling to feel at home in either box – led him to finally accepting his non-binary-ness while constantly re-discovering what it truly means to him.
As a beginner in performance art, Michał is eager to explore the relationship between body and spirit, combining his outer self with his inner world of dreams, emotions, and imaginations. As tools aiding him on this journey, he plays with rocks, seen as symbols of eternity, stability, and ability to withstand hardships. Rocks have always held a special place in his heart as he has always felt a unique connection to the earth and grounds. He sees each human as a strange creature, believing we are all connected to the soil we are build of. In his eyes, bodies are raw and complex structures enabling us to interact with the abstract and the material around us.
In daily life, Michał is particularly fond of rats, which he considers to be exceptionally fascinating and mysterious beings which allow us to truly appreciate the life exhibited by every living creature.
Rüya (she/her)
I am Rüya, an architecture student in Poznan. I came from Istanbul, Türkiye. I am 28 years old, I was living with my family in Istanbul, but I live alone here and I am trying to stand on my own feet. I have been living as a woman with trans experience for about 15 years.
Also I am the kid who was called "faggot" by her schoolmates in primary school and who did not leave the classroom during class breaks to avoid being bullied. I am the child who went to the girls' toilet during class breaks to avoid using the boys' restroom and had to leave school after everyone had dispersed. I am the child trying to reach his home by choosing quiet streets where there are no bullying children. I am that LUBUNYA who attracted the attention of her next-door neighbor's husband when she reached adolescence and was harassed when she entered the building..
Yes, Lubunya.
Lubunya is a term used by trans women living in Istanbul in the 1980s. It's a made-up term, a term like "Queen" in American Trans Culture.
There is even a "Lubunca" language brought by this lubunya culture. Because in the country I come from, transsexual women or women who have completed this transition usually do sex work. Since tax-free sex work is prohibited in Turkey, the language these Lubunyas have made up is a special and encrypted language to protect themselves from the police.
In My Story, I will tell you the story of sex worker trans women who fight for visibility in Turkey by paying various prices. So in this story, the main character is me and other lubunians.
instagram.com/maevezelly/
Amazona Assem (she/her)
Amazona Assem is a Poznań-based interdisciplinary artist, deploying the appropriate medium to convey matters. Inspired by dichotomies such as Self/Social, Sacred/Profane, God/Satan. And topics such as philosophy, metanoia, religious oppression, biohacking & autonomy, indigenous practices & rituals, anthropocentrism, intersectional feminism, psychological & cultural decolonization, politics & collective exile.
Her works tug at loose threads to shred woven fabrics of reality, rephrase biblical analogies and manipulate narratives, deconstruct hierarchies of individual and collective oppression.
Currently studying Intermedia Arts at the University of Fine Arts in Poznań (UAP).
Photo by Mattia Spich
Klaus Światowy (he/they)
My name is Klaus Światowy and I'm a queer 18-year-old from Puszczykowo, Poland. I am an artist, my favourite areas being sculpture, illustration and performance. In my art I speak about humans' connection to nature, the energy we carry within us and whether some kind of a higher power exists. My other interests include intersectional activism, books and anthropology!
Photo by María Rivera
March 5th, 2023. Montreal
Mycelium (it/they/he)
Mycelium is an independent researcher & artist who plays with cheap/low/dirt art. It dabbles in living arts & radio (Audio Smut). It focuses primarily on magic, ecosexuality & childhood sexual abuse (CSA), notably creating a nature retreat by and for queer & trans survivors of CSA (Lichen Project) in collaboration with ME Louis, a dramatherapist. It is currently deeply interested in puppets.
https://www.facebook.com/projetlichenproject
https://www.facebook.com/audiosmut
Photo by Aunerade Baguaece
Photo by Eish Van Wieren
Eish Van Wieren (they/them)
Eish Van Wieren is a white (Dutch/Uk) genderfluid trans nonbinary transdisciplinary artist originally from Mohkinstsis/Calgary and currently based in Tkaranto/Toronto. They are a theatre practitioner, playwright, visual artist, mask maker, performer, musician, designer and educator. They also work in costumes for film and TV and are an IATSE 873 permitee.
Fundamentally, their practice takes inspiration from, and is in conversation with, nature as a generative space of possibility. The wonders of plants, animals and magic along with their dysmorphia, inform their creation of creatures, stories and masks. They are compelled by object theatre and using the wonderful to explore the horrible. Eish is passionate about staging diverse queer/trans stories and building production teams that reflect/support the stories being told on stage while working in an anti oppressive framework.
They hold an MFA in Performance Creation from York University, were a member of Playwright’s Workshop Montreal Young Creator’s Unit 2021-2022 and Tarragon Theatre’s Extended Young Playwrighting Unit 2021 They are currently a member of the Nightwood innovators 2022-2023 cohort. Their work has been supported by Canada Council, Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Playwright's Canada Press, Theatre Outre, Buddies in Bad Times, Playwright’s Workshop Montreal and more. You can find more about their work on instagram @splatbonfitz_productions. Select Credits Theatre: Grape Head (PWM/SplatBonFitz Productions), The Parasite (Theatre Outré, Buddies in Bad Times), The Baker and Their Mice (OBJECTO: Toronto Experimental Object Festival), The Void (Buddies in Bad Times), Apartment Show Online 2.0 (Thumbs Up Good Work).
instagram: @splatbonfitz_productions
website splatbonfitz.wordpress.com
Photo by Rant Salt Casey
Enok Ripley (they/them)
Enok Ripley is a Canadian Visual artist and Performer currently working in Quebec, Canada. Ripley completed their Studies in Studio Arts at Concordia University, and now works internationally in performing arts and installation, presenting their works all over Europe, Canada and the United States. Ripley has received several Grants and bursaries to participate in international performance festivals including the Venice International Performance Art Week, Summerworks Canadian Performance Festival, as well as others.
Ripley's performances examine their physical and metaphysical bodie/s in all its possible iterations both lived and imagined. Through transformations transcribed in flesh, cloth, paint, and clay, they create hybrid creatures of self-exploration, to be embodied, held lovingly or worn as armor. Ripley creates a sanctuary within themselves, in which the bittersweet feelings of hope and grief exist simultaneously; reaching out to others through limbs that can move, decay and regrow as needed"
Instagram @enokripley
November 13th, 2022. Montreal/ San Diego
Photo by Provvidenza Catalano
Eva Gonzalez (they/them)
Eva Gonzalez is a third year PhD student in Communication and Critical Gender Studies at UC San Diego. Their research lies at the intersection of trans and performance studies, asking how gender can be created or re-made through movement and performance. Eva is also a singer-songwriter, with a forthcoming EP to be released this winter. Additionally, they create synthesizer-based compositions and improvisations to accompany projected experimental films and abstract animations. Their most recent work includes performing a live score to filmmaker kelechi agwuncha's MFA thesis, tether, and composing a score for artist Georgia Twigg's I Was Looking for You, which recently debuted at the London Fringe Film Festival. Drawing upon their background in dance and live performance, Eva is now exploring performance art as part of Holly Timpener's Queer Epicenter Revolutions.
Fanny Aboulker (they/them)
Fanny Aboulker is a performer, weaver, videographer and text worker. A doctoral student in art studies and practices at UQAM, they are working on the degendering of French language and its consequences on our imaginations. Originally from France, they spent most of their adult life in the UK and are currently living in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal.
Photo by Jean Gros Abadie
April 24th, 2022. Montreal/ Guadalajara/ Halifax
Photo by Aquarius Funkk
Photo by GreyKimber Piitaapan Muldoon
Photo by Francesca Chudnoff
Aquarius Funkk (they/them)
Aquarius is an interdisciplinary artist and performer, who works primarily in live performance, digital mediums, video, and wearable art. Originating in Portland, Maine, and currently residing in Guadalajara, Mexico, Aquarius has been developing their practice since 2010. First working as a burlesque dancer, model, and makeup artist, as well as in graphic design & photography, they began exploring the realm of radical performance art in 2016. They have worked extensively with international performance art troupe La Pocha Nostra in the US and Mexico, as well as virtually.
Aquarius seeks to embody the intricate nature of intersectionality, in all its complexities and oversimplifications. They explore gender identity, racial politics, religious idiosyncrasies, social structures & societal norms from a non-binary, queer, Afrofuturist (and AfroRetrofuturist) perspective. In magnifying and subsequently deconstructing normative belief systems, Aquarius uses the dismantled pieces to build an alternate universe that satisfies the deep-seated human desire to be whole. Their method centers on movement, persona building, ritual, and layering of visuals and audio. Aquarius invokes their own deeply conflicting emotions – irreverence, hysteria, melancholy, dissonance – building storylines that lead to eventual relief from conflict through unexpected beauty, humor, and intimacy. They oscillate within the juxtaposition of highly stylized and drastic starkness. Aquarius draws on threads from the work of Black ancestors and iconic figures of the past and present, relating them to the current cultural climate.
Grey/Kimber Piitaapan Muldoon ('ey/'em)
Grey is the ghostly quality of light in the morning; a performance artist exploring reciprocity, intimacy, and proximity through interactions that recall ritual into the body. Grey works in performance and installation using video, time, light, performing objects, songs, dances, and weather. Grey now holds a couple undergraduate degrees and has been making durational performance art since before that.
Trans*wize, Grey remembers awareness of their queerness their entire life. Grey has been using trans* identities since 1997, when 'ey found the word “transsexual” in a science magazine in the library while creating a children’s memory matching card game on sexually dimorphic animal species for tenth grade biology. Grey continues to reciprocate with, and care for forms of trans* medicines and articulations. 'Ey believe in magic, and they hope you always have a friend wearing big red shoes.
My process is commitment, staying open to reception, using memory keepers such as objects and songs, and then recording the received as a game: Right now, I think when we reject art as too personal, inauthentic, or obscure, we are missing a subtext or at odds with one through our own proximity to power. My work is trying to retaliate against the preoccupation with inner selves and outer selves, to reinstate a desire for looking after each other in a reliance that does not scare the questions out of us. It is trying. Your witness and participation here and there are beautiful.
raspberry joey / joey eddy (he/him/them)
joey is a settler here on turtle island who began life being wooed by the ocean, her tides and the great orcas. under their spell they/he has become an endlessly inquisitive being working and playing as a guest on the unceded territory of tkaronto and mooniyang/tiohti:áke. he is a trans, queer performer - singer, actor and dance artist – an actra member since 2001. joey works with children and families as well, in pre and post natal doula giving, care giving and somatic release therapy. his somatic release work focuses on embryology, energy medicine and genetic memory. he has been practicing as a somatic and energy work healer for the last 8 years through alignment work, reiki medicine, breath work, emotional and physical release with trauma-informed practice. as a performer he worked with zee, willi dorner, andrew tay, kate nankervis, will ellis, robert kingsberry, brandy leary, aria evans, vania vaneau, justin deluna, lo bil, leelee oluwatoyosi eko davis, danah rosales, holly timpener, aquarius funkk, grey muldoon, among others.
one of joey eddy’s interests lies between found presence within giving radical, decolonial care and it’s relativity to the attunement of collective transformations in bodies during performance and performance making. eddy is thrilled to be chewing on queer politics, race politics, gender politics and disability politics within this work after years of feeling stuffed in a place he didn’t understand. he is a neurodivergent autistic human navigating the earthly currents with y’all, one moon at a time.
November 21st, 2021. Montreal
Photo by Marta Croll-Baehre
Sheri Osden Nault (they/them)
Nault is a Michif, Nehiyaw, and mixed-European visual artist, community activist, and educator. Since early 2020, they have used their platform and art practice to fundraise for Land Defenders across Turtle Island, to share knowledges and medicines, and to found an annual project sending gift bundles to Two-Spirit youth during the winter season.
As a visual artist, Sheri works across mediums including sculpture, beadwork, basket weaving, Indigenous tattoo revival, performance, photography, and video. Their practice is shaped by tactile ways of learning and sharing knowledges, while grounded in mixed-Indigenous and Queer life experiences and a commitment to social and ecological justice. Rich relationships with both human and non-human beings inform the ways in which they create. Focused on Indigenous futurism, their work builds towards and acknowledges a future rich in kinship sensibilities, Two-Spirit wisdom, traditional and contemporary Indigenous art, and intersectional commitments of care and responsibility that extend beyond these communities, too.
instagram.com/so_nault/
linktr.ee/so_nault
sherinault.com
Camille Charbonneau (they/them)
Born in a Mormon family, Camille moved to Tiohtià:ke/Montréal in 2010 to continue their studies in fine arts. In 2020, they graduated with distinction from Concordia University’s Painting & Drawing BFA program; they were recently admitted to the MFA, and awarded the Shirley Reed Graduate Scholarship and Tom Hopkins Memorial Graduate Award. Emerging from their interest in the relationship between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and the queer community, they explore subjects such as gender, body ownership, and identity expression through an interdisciplinary practice and the ritualistic and iterative language of performance. By analysing sacred Mormon texts, publications, and speeches from a queer standpoint, they criticize the LDS’ hermetic views of body legitimacy and highlight the obsolete and often-exclusionary values of a system that refuses to evolve.
instagram.com/camillecoit/
Photo by Camille Charbonneau
Damaris Baker (they/them)
Baker is a non-binary musician and performer based in Tio'tia:ke – Montreal. They have worked in radio, lead choirs, as a film-maker and animator, and taught children music. Currently they are asking questions about death and pain in the context of land back, decolonization and tenants rights, our relation to land and ancestors, and our violence towards first nations people and environmental destruction. Their work is messy and stumbling, opening up space to be together as living beings, vulnerable and connected and afraid.
Photo by Clayton Kennedy
Photo by Geoff Fitzgerald
Holly Timpener(they/them)
Timpener is a queer, non-binary performance artist working in-depth with themes of Queer trauma and Queer resistance. They use performance as a way to challenge and understand their place in this world, and to investigate how Queer people and communities are connected. Performance allows them to confront issues related to gender, intimacy, trauma, and the body by engaging themes of trust, power, control, and consent. These themes are approached from a personal perspective, along with research collected from within Queer communities. One-on-one performances allows them to receive stories and experiences of other Queer folks, which they reflect on and responds to through performative expression. Balancing their personal experience, knowledge and memories with insight gained through Queer community research, Timpener embodies "The Personal Is Political" in a modern sociopolitical context. Within their works they claim ownership of their own body and reflect on the trauma woven into the lived experience of being Queer.
hollytimpener.wixsite.com/hollytimpener
instagram.com/hollytimpener/