This is a post from my substack newsletter. Read in full (and subscribe for free) here.
I didn’t intend to take the entire winter off from this newsletter, but here we are. Since Halloween, I’ve been busy becoming a piercer (I’m now working nearly full time at ARAKNA Arts Corporels, where I am wrapping up an apprenticeship – my growing portfolio can be found on Instagram @reliquaire.percage) and writing (exhibition texts for two shows in Montréal: Manal Kara at Pangée, and group exhibition Beauté Effraction at Skol, album promo for Vancouver producer Uma Iste, an interview with experimental electronic artist Sara Gold for ReIssue, and more behind the scenes). I’m also finishing a virtual sound art residency with Media Arts Committee, which has slowly reawakened my sonic practice from the dormancy of the last season.
At some point in the midst of all this, I did a project for By Tooth and Claw, a “slow clothing” label offering small batch, upcycled, and artisan-made tarot and astrology-themed items. The business is run by an old friend from my long-ago art school days in so-called Vancouver, Heidi Nagtegaal. We knew each other from school, but more importantly from the local community art scene during the early 00s, where exhibitions were held in houses and backyards and artists gathered in parks and dive bars. BTAC uses their Instagram account to spotlight artists in mini-residencies of 15 posts over approximately a month, using their products as a jumping-off point for whatever words and images they feel inspired to create.
The writing and photos that were prompted by the BTAC products I selected (the Death and Devil tarot cards, and symbols of Capricorn, Virgo, and a few other astrology signs) ended up bringing out a more personal side of my writing than usual, sharing about some things I never have before. For various learned reasons, I have a tendency to compartmentalize my creative work and myself as person, and this project, as well as the sound art residency (which I’ll have more to say about soon), started breaking down some of those barriers.
Below, I’ll share the first few posts from my BTAC spotlight series, for which I also styled and photographed the accompanying images.
De Synthèse
I’ve been eager to improve my French since moving to Montreal, and am lucky enough to live with a partner who is a Quebecoise poet and French lit expert with an amazing collection of books. She insisted I read De Synthèse by local writer Karoline George, which I’ve been slowly reading a few pages at a time before bed. Set in Montreal, the book juxtaposes the painful emotions of dysfunctional family life with forms of glamour, fantasy and dissociation from the physical realm.
Pentacle and Capricorn tokens pictured here with my curved barbell earrings and giant safety pins from Bitchfist (which remind me both of body piercing jewelry and the symbols for the nodes of the moon in astrology).
Virgo Rising
As my rising sign, I’ve studied the myth and symbolism of Virgo in an effort to make sense of what it might signify for me. Some things I’ve heard aren’t substantiated with historical info, but are interesting to think about in symbolic form nonetheless.
Virgo is associated with the archetype of the virgin, which has roots in Christianity’s Virgin Mary, but also in the Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome, who were priestesses in the temples dedicated to the goddess Vesta. The Vestal Virgins had special privileges in Roman society and were considered “sovereign over themselves,” having certain rights that were given to no one else.
Although I don’t idealize the patriarchal and oppressive social structure of that time and place, I do find it interesting how the term “virginity” in modern times has become so closely tied with sexual taboos and controlling heteropatriarchal norms, when it once signified the archetype of a sovereign priestess.
Another perspective on Virgo that resonates for me is the symbolism behind its ruling planet, Mercury. The planet Mercury is named after the god from the Roman pantheon, who is known as a messenger and boundary keeper between the upper and lower worlds, a psychopomp who guides the deceased to the underworld. As a writer and someone who often inhabits several different spheres at once, this ability to move between worlds and relay messages from place to place makes a lot of sense to me.
The symbol of Mercury, which I also use as a logo for Spectral Type, was originally used as a hermaphroditic symbol in biology. Although I’m non-binary/trans and not intersex, as a genderfluid-identified person, the symbol of Mercury being used to signify being in between or existing as both genders speaks to me as well.
Capricorn
I’m a Capricorn Sun, Venus, Mercury, and Neptune, and I also have the asteroid Vesta conjunct my Cap Venus/Sun. Needless to say, the Capricorn energy is strong in my world. When I was growing up and comparing astrology signs with my friends, Capricorn seemed boring compared to Leo or Libra. But it seems like the older I get, the more people seem to appreciate the qualities of Capricorn.
In my life, Capricorn manifests itself as some relationship to tradition: I see my longtime connection to the “traditional art world” of galleries and museums in this light, and although I don’t find that realm to be sufficient to support all of my creative endeavours (and have gone to great lengths to nurture alternatives), I still maintain a connection to it through my art writing.
I also see the spirit of Capricorn in connecting to elders and historical groups in the queer community. When I was coming out as a late-blooming queer while living in NYC, I learned so much from attending kink workshops at the LGBT Center in Greenwich Village hosted by the Lesbian Sex Mafia, a leatherdyke organization that’s been around since the early 80s. (If you’re interested in learning more about the history of leatherdyke culture, which includes trans and gender non-conforming people, I highly recommend Michelle Handelman’s film Bloodsisters.)
That’s it for now. I’ll share more from this series over the next month or so.
Happy Spring xx