Submerge Labs: In Residence – Lydia L’Scabies

Drag artist Lydia L’Scabies develops ideas for her new project; a haunted house of queer trauma.

Submerge Festival 2022 artist in residence Lydia L’Scabies is working with artist and mentor Joss Areté, exploring the ideas in their ongoing research project into creating an immersive haunted house of queer trauma, which will playfully push against the heteronormative agenda and challenge binary thinking.

Lydia L’Scabies is a complex drag character created by Alex Mills. Their latest project House of Trauma is an immersive performance horror maze filled with nightmarish depictions of the subtle and not-so-subtle traumas LGBTQ+ people are subjected to as they navigate growing up queer in a world not made for anyone willing to stand out from the crowd.

House of Trauma will use horror and humour to paint a picture of the damage queer people face to their self-esteem, through years of being demeaned and rejected. It will draw upon Alex’s lived experience, as well as written and oral accounts of the strategies the LGBTQ+ community have used to survive. The piece will be created collaboratively, offering multiple-perspectives on a thorny and emotional issue.

This new work is a development of LOST, a Submerge 2020 one-to-one art commission. Throughout the residency Lydia will receive mentoring support from Joss Areté, expanding her drag practice into new territories through rearch into creative technology and interactive and immersive performance.

“It was like stepping into a David Lynch universe; a drag performance with a desperate horror vibe. It was sinister but also sad, and I really felt our connection”

– Audience Member “Lost”

CREDITS

This residency is kindly supported by Contact