The year was 2005, and that’s saying something when you truly divine everything in it: there is more in that opening salvo than meets the eye and mind. If you think about the enormity of what twenty years truly encompasses you wouldn’t be so flippant in moving onto the next sentence. Already I’m alienating the reader in likely-unnecessary warnings, but if there’s one thing that the project I’m about to present taught me it was to unabashedly be myself. That means being absolutely willing to look like a fool and an idiot, and having the utmost fun in doing so. It means leaning into the idea of fantasy and escape as a viable means of mentally dealing with an imperfect and increasingly-awful world. It means embracing your own divinity and fabulousness in the face of those who would have you silent and suppressed.
‘The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale’ was my project from 2005 – two long decades ago, when the world was decidedly different, and going on tour merely meant traveling to see friends around the country. Following the subtle writings of 2004’s ‘shades of gray’, the contemplative musings of 2003’s ‘Talented Trickster Tour: Reflections of a Floating World‘, the earnest garden diary of 2002’s ‘Words of a Gardener‘ and 2001’s scandalous ‘MAN*BOY‘, ‘The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale’ was originally conceived as an escapist bit of visual fantasy. It came after that string of rather serious and occasionally somber works, and on the surface it was very much a celebration of superficial glamour and sparkle. Underneath it all there was a more serious theme emerging, but rather than present it in dour fashion, I tried to dress it up in feathers and sequins, the way I’ve tried to dress up life whenever it threatens to bring us down.
The Divine Diva Tour was very much centered on the glamour of being a diva – the frills and fun and ridiculousness of it all – wrapped in satin and shine, studded with sparkle and pizzazz, and given divine life through attitude and insistence. It also posited questions on what it meant to be feminine versus masculine, the ever-evolving perception and reality of gender roles, and the multi-faceted realm of sexuality. It was a tale told by a fairy, and the element of being gay was at its heart, informing every glitter-littering step, lifting every fluttering wing. It also marked my first flirtation with drag in any sense of the word, and also my last, as I make for an ugly-ass woman (the eyebrows alone were horrendous) but it all added to the element of play and fun and riotous abandon.
This project remained buried for years, much like ‘shades of gray‘ and other golden-oldies. I’m not entirely sure why, other than concerns typically ran to what was current rather than what had once been. Seeing as it was one of my most fantasy-fueled works it feels like the right time to resurrect it, coinciding with its 20th anniversary. It’s also relatively light-on-the-writing-and-reading and heavy on the visuals, so it’s easy to digest, and ideal for the current state of the world. Without further ado, our presentation of ‘The Divina Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale’ takes wing starting today…
