Check out Astrud Aurelia’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Astrud Aurelia.

Astrud, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I have been a performer for most of my life now with a background in theatre, music, dance, and performance art. I was exposed to many different styles of art from a young age, and I always felt the need to indulge in as many different genres and media as I possibly could- playing in local bands, writing, and drawing and designing in my spare time. After Attending Arizona School for the Arts, where I focused on my musical training in jazz and classical music, I went to ASU for jazz performance in percussion and upright bass, where I found a lot of issues relating to my peers and mentors.

My interest in visuals, performance art, fashion, and gender expression didn’t seem to interest the people around me, and I soon grew tired of the machismo, overly competitive and often degrading nature of higher education music culture. Soon after this, I discovered drag and was immediately moved by how all-encompassing it was, and the freedom that came from a being a drag artist. The sense of freedom and true lack of boundaries inspired me and I quickly put a huge part of my time and energy into developing my drag person to what I feel has been great success so far. Now, I spend my time trying to balance, but also trying to combine my love of music with my love of drag, and take both sides of myself to a place I don’t think any musician OR drag queen has yet to go.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I’m trying to challenge people’s perception of what a drag queen looks like, acts like, and sounds like. I want to show people that gender expression is something to be taken seriously, and that there is a whole unexplored world out there for trans, non-binary, genderqueer to sink their teeth into- especially in those places where we might not have felt welcome before. Right now, there isn’t really much conversation to be had about queer people in jazz- and that’s something that really bothered me.

It’s been a really lonely experience, being the only openly gay person in the jazz school for 3 years. But, I want to open that up to all different kinds of art forms- and I want that to reflect in the art that I make. I want my music, for example, to reflect the queer experience and culture, but I don’t want it to be limited by that. By bringing in these elements of jazz and advanced musical techniques, I hope to inspire queer people to make the kind of art that they thought they couldn’t make regardless of representation or visibility.

How can artists connect with other artists?
I think I might have actually said that a couple of question back. I think the best thing you can do is follow your truth as honestly as you can, and it will lead you to your tribe. It might be pessimistic too, but I sometimes feel like if you really have something unique to say, then you’re going to feel that way. Try to embrace it. I definitely feel lonely and out of place in the music community pretty frequently- but that loneliness was also the thing that pushed me to take drag seriously and make art out of it. And that has really helped me to grow and lead me in a better direction.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
The easiest way to follow me is on Instagram. I perform all around the valley solo as well as with my band- and I frequently post photos of my art as well as when and where you can catch me performing.

Contact Info:

• Email: leathammarcus@gmail.com
• Instagram: @astrudqueen
• Twitter: @astrudqueen

Image Credit:
Micah James, for the two purple alien photos; Bill Goodman, for the black and white photos; Ben Viton, for the one with the sport harness and black bangs.

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