OUTDATED ID #1 with
@vivavilar // part 2/2
Viva Vilar’s heels were created as a response against a transphobic act against her, one that impeded her from showing off her art pieces. In need of positioning herself in opposition to that, she developed this project, putting herself on a pedestal using such a staple of women’s fashion, but also one that brings physical pain and is inherently part of a patriarchal image of women.
“This tension between pain and pleasure makes me think a lot about the pains and pleasures of being a trans woman. [...] My art walks hand in hand with my identity”.
Viva brings every part of herself when creating a new piece, be it a sculpture, a drawing, a performance and any other art form. “One of my objects of research is my own mind”, she tells OUTDATED, “It’s my own ideas, lived experiences, feelings, trauma and identity - so, sometimes all that introspection takes more time than I’d like”.
Pointing out the need for a “more constant outpour of art” when it comes to the industry, Viva says that the hardest part of the process is finding a way of making these really personal pieces in a timeframe that is more controllable.
“It takes a balance between the introspection, the doing, the building, the internal and external, you know? Finding that, this limbo between the mental and physical, that’s the hardest”.
Working with metal and concrete for a big part of her sculptures, the creative freedom of it all is also one of her favorite parts too, she points out, though: ”I draw, project and make mockups of all my pieces, for so long before working on them, so when the idea leaves my brain and takes up space and life, that’s my favorite part of creating”.
@vivavilar photographed by
@kaiocsr assisted by
@abouts.k // shot in vitória, brazil // words by
@redcrowning