Stumbling upon X's Instagram and entering his "exhibition" @manifest.x as his Instagram bio states and witnessing his gallery of "masks" as each creation is unique and varies from post to post. This week's final feature is X.
Starting off with a little bit about X's recent interests as he says "lately, I've been really into Shirley Bassey. She's a singer who had her height in the last century and has the most spectacular and theatrical music I have ever heard. 10/10 would recommend." I've been slowly getting myself to watch plays as my friend recommends me her favorites or any I'd find interesting. I'd have to say that theatrical music sure is something with the small amount I've listened to I enjoyed it. I'll be sure to check Shirley Bassey soon!
Not only naming his recent interests but also his favorite local business being "The Gallery on 10th street. They offer my most prized possessions for makeup: Mehron paint sticks. I use it for everything when I do my makeup." I've heard of this location along with a recent Instagram story mentioning a clothing sale, but I'm not too sure. I've also never been in inside, but there's a first time for everything.
As we started off this post with the gallery of "masks" you can witness on @manifest.x his bio states many things and one of them being "mask maker" and how it relates to his exhibition as he explains "I wrote 'mask maker' in my bio because a part of the X brand is that I'm always doing different faces. It's rare that you catch me repeating the same makeup. My Instagram is kinda like a gallery of different masks, ideas, art elements, and themes." I do see what X means by "different faces" as his exhibition portrays these masks by "ideas, art elements, and themes" you can feel/experience what the creator was going for as you take in the image along with caption attached to it. These are "masks", but they are works of art
as well.
From X's bio stating what you are walking into comes the idea of the first time, he got interested in turning his face into artwork as he shares the details "I've been a drawer and painter all throughout high school, but it wasn't until the later years that I started to do makeup. I first started out always doing the same look, but refining it. Then eventually I started to create different, more exciting looks. I treat my face like a canvas. There are so many possibilities of what I can create on my face that express identities that a regular canvas just can't fulfill. Although I still do paint, I just don't do it as much now." As he mentions "I treat my face like a canvas" to "there are so many possibilities of what I can create on my face...that a regular canvas can't fulfill" using the example of the image captioned "sometimes the mirror lies to me" as X using facial expressions besides what he applies to face to create his artwork. Using this example due to how it all comes together along with the caption to give you an unsettling feeling as even the caption can come off as relatable with the imagery. With this example, I'd like to lead into the themes of X's work as you can see the highlights on his page being "Devil Creature", "Beauty Creature", and "Art Creature" as he explains "as far as themes, I'm all over the place. I paint on my face to exemplify a plethora of things, sometimes combined or just separately, like modernism, neoplasticism, the Memphis group, mime makeup, clown makeup, goth makeup, club kid design, anime, and transhumanism. I'm always seeking to use those inspirations to convey different facets of myself, which usually falls under certain 'creatures,' and I end up putting them on my story in different categories, like 'Beauty Creature,' 'Devil Creature, 'Art Creature,' and "Punk Creature.' " As we use the "Devil Creature" as an example for the topic of themes the image "Blasphemy in our Garden of Eden" with again everything that brings the image together. Being the location, the facial, expression, the pose, and etc. It all comes down to complete the "theme", but if we scratch out "the location" and so one even just the artwork displayed with his added details makes the "Devil Creature" come alive.
X now has numerous artworks posted on his account and has grown along with the experience as artists develop their craft as time goes. What can be said about X's first time diving into his artistic facial work as he says "The first time I actually tried to do makeup, I had bought white and black greasepaint from a local Halloween store. At the time, and even now, I was very inspired and mesmerized by the makeup done by the New York club kid legend Sussi. Their makeup was very androgynous and mime-esque, so I did a makeup look inspired by them. It didn't come out good at all lol, but it was fun doing it, and for the next few looks I did after that, I continued to draw upon Sussi for inspiration." We all have our beginnings and even if "it didn't come out good" all that really matters is that X was having fun with it. Of course, this was his first time and time has passed to which he says "Compared to now, I would say my makeup has gotten so much better, both in terms of technique and concept. I still do use Sussi as an inspiration, which you can see with my white-circle faces that I do occasionally, and the bold eyeliner I usually do." There is nothing wrong with adding a piece of your influence(s) because as an artist at the end of the day you are sharing your ideas, themes, and any experience you had in mind to portray in the final product. Even if X is using Sussi as an influence by the "white-circle faces" and "bold eyeliner" maybe there's someone who has X in mind as their influence for their work as well.
With how complex these masks created by X are brought up the question of the process behind the looks created as he explained " I usually plan out my looks so haphazardly. Sometimes I'll quickly do a rough sketch on my notes app of makeup if I get a fleeting vision, but most of the time it's just something that floats around in my head and I save it in my mind for later. And most of the time, when I sit down to do a makeup look that I've been thinking about, it comes out differently than intended. I kind of just let my hands do their thing and not be held to a certain structured plan, and that's what makes it more fun and dynamic for me. As of this past month, I've really been pushing myself to do fully fleshed looks in terms of the makeup, costume, photography, and digital manipulation that I could do to make my vision come to life. Before I would just do makeup and take a photo of myself with my iPhone, which a lot of the time didn't fully give what I had to offer. Now I plan my looks behind the structure of time, a setting, and a costume. This gives my persona much more justice, I think." As X states "it comes out differently than intended. I kind of just let my hands do their thing" as I sometimes think that the best things are the things that don't go as planned. The idea of having a draft is always welcomed, but following it step by step like a road trip. There may always be unexpected restroom breaks, but in the end, you'll reach your destination is one of the ways I can explain it. With experimentation coming into play for the past month as X states that is something that is welcomed and I can see what you mean due to the "Blasphemy in our Garden of Eden" image along with the "don't walk alone at night" which the setting really works well with the caption making the final product being yourself come alive as previously stated. Really makes you think about walking alone at night
X stated one of his influences earlier being "Sussi", but there's more to it than that as he shares the influences on his artistic looks "as far as influences go, as I mentioned earlier, they're all over the place. A paramount modernist painter, Piet Mondrian, is one of my favorite visual artists, and I try to live up to his idea of what his art should be. Each of his paintings is an exercise of a certain element, to see what he can do with each element to express something different. I systematically do my makeup with that in mind. One day I'll think, 'How can I emphasize line?' or 'How can I emphasize color?', that kind of thought process. In a less systematic way, and more in a style way, I take influence from other visual artists like Sussi, Salvia, Fecal Matter, Milk, Trixie Mattel, and etc. I also take a lot of inspiration from the music I listen to, because that's when the idea's for looks usually hit me. Some of my favorite musicians are Björk (who takes the crown of my favorite artist across all mediums), Grimes, Sophie, FKA Twigs, Solange, and Arca. I also usually brainstorm my makeup in terms of performances that I can do, and it's when I'm listening to music and thinking of ways I can narrate the songs through my body is when I usually think of makeup to accompany it and the aesthetic I would go for." When it comes to influences to the local artists I have interviewed they would sometimes mention the reading of the specific artists along with the experimentation of new things as well. When X asks himself these questions such as "how can I emphasize line...color" to bring out the expression of the elements used to its full potential. When it comes to the "line" and "color" I think of his post "Life Imitates Art." When it comes to the music I understand Solange and FKA Twigs as they are the two out the six artists I listen to, but I shall educate myself on the rest soon! For example when it comes to the Solange and thinking of "in terms of performance" I think of "My Skin My Logo" or "Stay Flo." There's a lot that comes into play than just creating a look which is really interesting.
As X brought up the "I usually brainstorm my makeup in terms of performances that I can do" brings us to the first time X has performed on stage as he says "I really do miss performing. The first time I performed on stage was at El Cine Rey. I did a show with my Haus and performed to 'Immaterial' by Sophie. It's a fun, upbeat, and abstract song that I vogued and emoted to on stage, and it was such a fun time. Although it was definitely a little rough around the edges, it was a good starting point for my career because of the praise I got from it. My last show was in DC (I go to school there). I did this show called 'Oddball,' hosted by Desiree Dik, one of my favorite drag performers I've had the honor of watching. Oddball is an alternative drag show, which I definitely fit in because I don't do the stereotypical drag number. You won't catch me performing to a song from the Top 20 hits playlist, as pretentious as that sounds. This is my judginess coming out but I don't like drag artists that performer to crowd-pleaser songs. There's no creativity involved. My main goal when performing is to construct a narrative, to make the song come to life, and to use my body's movement and face emotions to create a temporary work of art. I performed to 'It's Oh So Quiet' by Björk at the Oddball show, which is truly a wild and theatrical song. I had a lot of fun performing to it and I'm glad the audience enjoyed it." I've never been to one the shows, but have caught my attention and I hope to one day experience one for sure! We each have our own interests as the performers choose their music, but in terms of understanding X chooses to be himself which is the most important thing. Not just himself, but using the music best incorporates his performance as he mentions his goal. Makes me feel as if you were to watch X perform as he completes his goals set in the performance you'd be enjoying more than just a performance, but something rather theatrical for sure.
I recently saw earlier this month a virtual performance and due to quarantine what will become of X performing as he says "Because of the pandemic I've gone from performing live to making music videos, which turned out to be a lot of fun, and there's so much that I can do in a video that I can't do live. I am currently not booked for any digital drag shows at the moment but I am still going to come out with more videos regardless." I'd say that its something worth experiencing for yourself in his exhibition. Check out the video "breath in deep and let go...this trip lasts long" as an example.
Coming to an end and out of all the numerous pieces of artwork X has created I just had to ask if he had any favorite to which he replied with being " I have two works that are my favorite and that I'm really proud of. The first is a digital media piece that I did not too long ago. Its captioned on my Instagram 'I am the Canvas/ The Canvas is Me.' It features me holding up a canvas with my makeup on it, and my fingers are slender and sharp, and you can see me wearing the same makeup on my actual head. I love the devilish-like appearance of sharp shoulders, sharp fingers, and sharp elf ears, which is inspired by my love of transhumanism and how I strive to look otherwordly in a lot of my works. As far as my other favorite, it is the recent short film I just uploaded titled "Ode to Self," which is a visual ode to my emotions, my thoughts, my past, present, and future. I broke it up into 3 parts, The first part shows my whimsical, non-serious self (which, if you know me in person, you'll find out that I am one of the most non-serious people you will ever meet). I also showed my Tarot card reading to represent everything that is going on at the moment. The second part features my debaucherous, indulging self, and my love for glamour and stardom. The third part is more a reflective piece that still shows a sense of debauchery and self-love but in terms of transhumanism and this avant-garde version of myself that I strive to be. This short film was so much fun to do and was very fulfilling, and definitely has to be one of my favorite performances that I've done." As X mentions "I strive to look otherworldly" which is something he accomplishes for sure. Check out "I am the Canvas/The Canvas is Me" and think of the details and everything X has mentioned that completes this piece. Working more with video which can accomplish more as X stated earlier "there's so much that I can do in a video that I can't do live." Check out the "Ode to Self" on his Instagram @manifest.x.
These are X's thoughts on the local drag queen/art scene in the valley,
"The drag scene in the Valley is a very interesting place, to say the least. When you walk into the club, you'll usually find pageant queens that perform to the latest hits, which is fun for the audience and can be gratifying for them, but I wish there were more performers that strived for a more creative approach, to make actual statements or come out with actual fully-fleshed looks, rather than a female impersonation, but to each their own I guess. Regardless, my favorite drag artists who push the standard of drag in the Valley have to be my sister Savannah Gyl. She is THE best performer in the Valley and one of the best I've seen in general. Her makeup also has to be one of the best. Another has to be Lolita. She really gives respect to her Mexican heritage and is an AMAZING seamstress who comes up with a lot of period pieces. Another is Edra Valencia, who is another amazing seamstress and is just a fabulous bitch. I want more queens to strive for the artistic excellence that the previous queens provide. As far as the general art scene, I really enjoy Jumexgod's art. She is so creative and works with so many mediums and is the best person I know... A local musician that I think is so cool is Danica Salazar. I saw her perform at Yerberia Cultura and she completely let go and became one with her music, which is something that I strive to see from performers."
Along with a small, side note,
" I hope that in the future I can do my art full time, to be able to perform, paint, as well as design architecture (which is what I'm studying) and furniture, and maybe even work in the fashion industry. I have a lot of aspirations and I'm only just starting."
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