PRODUCTION DESIGN:
A DEEPER CHARACTER STUDY
Forging an Identity with Cain Culto
Back in 2021, Cain Culto wasn't yet the queer, outspoken icon he is today. In fact, he was residing in a small beach town, just north of Santa Barbara, undoing his religious upbringing and artistry as Eccleesia.
I had the privilege to be a part of Culto's early, identity seeking works, assisting in the choreography for Melt, the costume and acting for Precious, and the art direction for Dopamine Dream.
Melt
Art Director
Music Video
Exploring Culto's character and his personal artistry was just as much of a journey for myself as it was for him. We were living in a small, beachside, religious community where oddity was not readily embraced, unless it came in a Jesus-wrapped package.
Unlike Culto, I hadn't grown up in the evangelical church, but I ached for belonging, and forced myself in a palatable box to be accepted by my peers.
During Covid, when the character of Cain Culto began to take shape, the artist called me for my hand in movement design, costume design, and endless conceptual conversations.
It was probably from these moments that my later found alter-ego, Frankie, was born. (see Who The Hell is Frankie?)
Art Director
Precious
Music Video
Dopamine Dream
Art Director
Music Video
BARBIE'S WORKSHOP
Barbie by Edikted
Prop Assist, Set Dressing
Commercial
To launch the Barbie collaboration with fashion brand Edikted, we were tasked to build Barbie's seamstress studio, a life-sized Dream House of a dressing room, and a giant catwalk for the final fashion show.
As a seamstress myself, building Barbie's workshop was my imagination come to life. Sketches and fabric samples pinned up, shiny work tables, and of course, pink mannequins and clothing racks. Barbie is a busy woman, so we had to make sure all her ducks were in a row.
BELLA KAY
BREAKAWAY x TikTok
WHO AM I LATELY?
Visualizer Collaborations with
Maggie Miles and Half Alive
CLOSETGIRL: An Exercise in Trust
Identity is a recurring theme in my work. From the visualizers to the right, to my own poetry, I think we are all constantly trying to understand and map ourselves out. In a world that has become increasingly intangible, our identity has been reduced to a glance at an Instagram, and how we can sell ourselves in a three-second hook.
CLOSETGIRL was a concept imagined by Sydni MacPherson, aka indyscam. Not just a reckoning with ones queer identity, but rather a reach to the ever-evolving worlds within one's head and the intimacy of allowing another to not only perceive you, but participate in that world building.
I love to have a subject interact with a projection of self, whether it's via a literal projector or a mirror image (see below), the depiction of inner world relating to the outer world (or vice versa) is what most people are looking for when consuming art.
"Look at the mess I've made." Says the subject in the video. As the light flickers on as if to signify a new reality being revealed, the subject looks in the mirror and the reflections of the hands, evidence that the tarnish on her skin is her own. But when she tries to make contact with it, it flickers back to reality, leaving her uncertain of the truth.
Translating Story and Character Into a Physical Space
Imagine you are sixteen years old again. Your childhood room still has the same color and same duvet that you've been rocking since you were nine. You have tried to convince your dad to let you repaint, asked mom to buy you this new bedsheet set, but they give you the same response, "What you have works fine."
You probably started tearing pages out of magazines, taping up photos of friends, collecting knickknacks and keepsakes from each place you went, whether it was a keychain
from a trip, a note from a friend, or a rock found on a hiking trail. Anything you could collect to scream, "I did this! I was here! I like this! This is who I am."
As directors, we may look at a character's home as a just a cool looking place they hang out. Often, what we end up doing is curating envy and disbelief between the character and the audience. Sometimes a set becomes so curated that it removes your audience from the reality you are trying to build.
I involve myself in a deeper study of a character's relationships and their choices. It leads me to decisions of what magazine they may have on the floor, or what pile of clothes gets rejected on the floor when deciding to go out. What might avalanche out of their glove box when they're looking for a spare napkin.
Every little detail does in fact matter, and it's my job to make them so seamless, that you, yourself, get lost it in their world.