CONNECT ART
Rather than be oppressed by meaningless societal expectations, isn’t it more freeing to subvert them?
BEAUTY IS AGONY DRAG MAKEUP ARTiSTRY
Ross Verik (Tokyo) interviewed by Jessica Craven (Saitama)
What comes to mind when you think of drag, aside from RuPaul’s Drag Race? While the hit show is (for better or worse) largely the pop culture version of drag that has invaded the public consciousness,my chat with Ross Verikーa drag makeup artist, musician, and performer on the Tokyo drag sceneーreveals how much more diverse and liberating the drag world can really be. For Ross, drag is about the goth scene rather than prim and polished pageantryーhe is inspired by the lack of gender boundaries in the goth scene, as well as in the Japanese rock and visual kei scenes. Drag is also something that has been incredibly sensationalized in pop cultureーmost people probably associate it with superfemme drag queensーbut Ross believes that drag is for everyone. Even cis-gender people do not fit perfectly within traditional gender boundaries, which oppress everyone to some degree. Rather than be oppressed by meaningless societal expectations, isn’t it more freeing to subvert them? Ross shares with us a little about his background and how he does just that. 8|
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