1000 ways of being

April 12, 2016 Jodi Sharp

I am in the full on mode of getting ready for taBURNak! this weekend. Emails, phone calls, organizing artists, volunteers, venue, building stuff, the list goes on. And yet somehow in the midst of it all, I'm still sitting here, pinning leather together for my latest costume to wear to the event.

Why? I ask myself constantly. I have SO MUCH to do right now, and yet for some reason I can't seem to cut building a new costume off my list. I fuss around, building thing after thing, trying to see what will come together.

I struggle for a while, wondering if I am vain, but no. There's something deeper here. Something that stems down to my deep need for creativity and self expression.

There is one thing that has always remained a constant in my practice, and that is the use of my own body. I think that because of growing up in what, for me, was an oppressive space, I am very cautious about imposing my own world views on top of others. Because of this I use my own body, with the belief that, by changing myself, I can form a link in a chain that will possibly change others.

With this idea in mind, I do believe that if I change how my body looks, acts and relates to a space, I have the capacity to change my environment day by day. This is one of the major reasons that I find costuming so important. The ability to change how I look not only communicates on my outside how I feel on the inside, but also allows for me physically change my environment.

I cannot count the amount of people I have met, the amount of art I have added to spaces, and the amount of conversations I've had about my lifestyle, just because I have been dressed up. It is my art, and it is my mode of connection.

So, in the effort of sharing inspiration, and encouraging others to make a difference through the use of their own bodies, of here are some of my costumes from this last years festival season. I did not manage to document them all, and I will try my best to list all the photographers, although I've forgotten some. The majority of what I wear I make myself, with found add ons as well as sometimes some lovely things made by friends.

Hopefully it will help inspire you to come to taBURNak! and contribute through the use of your own body!