Meet Voxigma Lo: Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Voxigma Lo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Voxigma, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Being a Capricorn, I feel like work takes over my entire life. Being a queen who is relatively “new” to traditional drag, means that I am one in a million. And when I receive an invite to perform in drag, whether in person or virtually, I will do it. Paid or unpaid. I hope to one day be able to leave my 9-5 and work exclusively as an artist, whether that be making zines, doing drag, costume designing, photography, writing, curating shows, etc. I push myself and with this notion of ‘now is the time where I do all of the work to get to that point.’ However, because I am someone who is so excited and a bit impatient, I’ve had to pull out of gigs because I simply have given myself way too much to do. The most ambitious project I’ve ever taken on is my show “One vvoman Show” and usually it features a variety of performers, poets, performance artists, singers and musicians and drag performers. But I held my winter show as me being the only performer… and that was quite a task to take on. Sleep during those first two weeks of January, was scarce. It was so taxing. And I was also working my very demanding 9-5 at the same time. My strange “work life balance” method for One vvoman Show (in general) is to PUSH through everything: my 9-5, the costumes, the planning, editing, etc. and then take time off from my 9-5 to A. Catch up on all that sleep and B. Engage with everyone who was patient with me as I abandon them to do my make up for 2 hours and lip sync to my camera. It’s absolutely an unhealthy balance method, I clearly see myself really struggling when crunch time comes and with two jobs and deadlines coming at me, I get very overwhelmed. And then it results in me taking a very long break from creative endeavors. What I plan to do differently is to spread the time for work and time for myself fairly over the time leading up to and after One vvoman Show. I think that may require being more transparent at my 9-5. Speaking of balance, I’ve been really good at keeping my creative endeavors completely separate from my 9-5. Honestly, I think if I were to be honest with my colleagues and boss about my life outside of work and explain to them the time off I’ll be taking, I think that would be the perfect balance. But I also like my art to exist authentically. The idea of my colleagues seeing me be radical in my appearance and performances and work and that trickling into my 9-5 is somewhat scary. In short, I think my perfect work life balance can be achieved with having more patience with myself, being realistic about what I can deliver in the time frames given and taking steps to build a relationship between my creative job to my 9-5 to allow myself to build a healthier self to give each of them the energy that’s required.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started as a writer, who picked up photography to tell stories. And then along the way, I started making myself the subject of the stories, and picked up a sewing machine to design my costumes and then learned how to put the photographs, with the text and format them into zines. And then I made a big leap of taking those zines and turning them into live and now digitally visually recorded stories. And I do all of that under the guise of Voxigma Lo. I call myself a Literary Drag Queen because literature, writing and photography, inform my drag. Having so many moving parts of Voxigma Lo makes it both, very easy and very hard. On one hand, I don’t have to outsource a designer for dresses and/or a photographer for content. On the other hand, I have so much to do! That’s a huge challenge, managing myself to complete so many necessary tasks to deliver something substantial and visually appealing. While I am wearing so many hats, the biggest lesson I’ve had to learn is that I am not going to be great at EVERYTHNG. I’ve had to learn that in editing and putting together One vvoman Show, I watched back the footage and was like “Where’s the comedy?” or “I need to take a dance class” and “Maybe I should start budgeting for better outfits.” I had to just quietly calm myself down and say, “This isn’t RuPaul’s Drag Race!” I don’t need to excel at everything. No one person is good at everything, and if they are, that’s good for them. That’s not my gig and that was a difficult pill to swallow. What I want folks to know is that my work is story telling. I am using my body, my hands, my mouth (with other folks’ lyrics) to tell a story. And that story is often something I’m struggling with, and probably other black queer gender non-conforming folks are struggling with.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Any friend visiting me, knows ahead of time, they should be prepared for walking! Cause I love walking places, if the weather permits. Our #1 stop would be The Juiice Box in Bushwick for their smoothies and shakes. It’s one of my absolute favorite places to go. We would then have to make our way through Bushwick to Williamsburg, stopping by GG’s Social Trade & Treasure Club for thrift shopping, Maria Hernandez Park for the Spanish music, and heading over to my favorite gallery, Miriam Gallery, for art book shopping and seeing amazing work. At this point, we would need a drink, so there’s some really great queer bars in Williamsburg that will not only give us a drink but a drag show which is ESSENTIAL for anyone visiting me. And the night would end at my home bar, Bodeguita where my favorite bartenders would make me my regular, a Vinales, and enjoy jazz music. That would be our day of exploring Bushwick and Williamsburg. We would have to have a Bed-Stuy/ Crown Heights date which would consist of donuts at Fat Donought, a walk to Herbert Von King Park. then grabbing brunch at The Southern Comfort and then picking up a plant at Natty Garden II right next door. We then would have to go down to Fulton Street Mural, and then head to Prospect Park and Brooklyn Museum. If this friends insist we keep on drinking, we will be going to Eve’s Lounge for the BEST old school R&B playlist and amazing drinks and food. If this friend is like, okay, I need some food and call it a night, we’ll go to Nurish.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My Shout Out always goes to my friends and family who not only are there helping me achieve what I need, but also those who simply check in during the process, those who are patient with me as I have to put them on the back burner while I work and most importantly, those who do all of those things and GENIUNELY engage with my work. The folks who deserve a little more credit is whomever I’m living with. Living with a creative, who works a 9-5 job, who uses their own space as a studio is a lot to be around. Often, I’m very messy, I’m up at all times of the day (trying my best to be respectful with my volume), I’m asking for their assistance, and I’m often just neglecting household chores like my dishes or cleaning up after myself. My current roommates and former roommates have all been really patient with me, and most importantly really laxed about me bringing the art into the home and using the home for my art. And if we don’t know each other, (like some roommates don’t) that’s not their responsibility, and some folks can’t function with disarray. So a special shout out to all of my roommates, current and former for their patience.

Instagram: voxigma.lo

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRiZlEF9gUWwRmG7vzm8dbQ

Image Credits
Self Portrait with assistance by Xander Garcia, Nick Ramsay and Kassandra Piniero