Transfiguration is a multidisciplinary art & fashion exhibition and live performance event scheduled for mid April, 2019, that will showcase queer and trans artists locally and nationally. In keeping with the project title, the goal of Mazzy Mann, Lorelei Kretsinger and Zoey Shopmaker is to take an otherwise ordinary or dilapidated space – a storage warehouse or an office loft – and transform it into a living, breathing exhibition of light and sound—a nostalgic, yet technologically forward display of trans and queer influences in music, media, and fashion. Taking place over multiple days, Transfiguration will unfold on a runway stage adorned with a video art installation using CRT-TV’s, projectors, and warped digital and analog video technology. The installation will symbolize the vital role that technology plays in unifying, uplifting, and representing marginalized communities.

The event will open with a drag show hosted by local artists from the Haus of Lavender—a recurring trans-woman-run drag series at Sidekicks Saloon—and a fashion show. For the latter, Mazzy will work with three to four fashion designers to create looks that draw on the aesthetics established in their sample portfolio. With each look, the team will explore the evolutions and strides that queer and trans artists and entertainers have made throughout modern history.

The festival will continue with a lineup of UN/TUCK and other local performers followed by extended sets from Resident DJs in the Cleveland-based queer/trans DJ collective, In Training. The event will conclude with a series of skill shares led by the collaborating DJs, producers, and visual artists, and a popup shop selling a line of queer/trans-minded clothing.

Transfiguration is a celebration of radical self-expression and personal growth within otherwise harsh and unforgiving environments. By combining elements of fashion, visual technology, and music, this project will celebrate the ways that queer and trans people make themselves known in society.

UN/TUCK was founded out of a desire for more queer and trans-centered social spaces in KC. The collective’s intention has always been to provide safe spaces for marginalized folks to dance and be free – as is the tradition of nightclub culture across the world. Transfiguration takes this idea and expands upon it by incorporating new artistic mediums, inviting collaboration with queer and trans artists locally and nationally, as well as setting a precedent for the local queer community to continue carving space for itself where none exists.

Transfiguration’s venue choice will also pay homage to the DIY origins of house music and nightclub life – spaces like the Warehouse, established in Chicago in 1977 by Robert Williams and DJ Frankie Knuckles, and David Mancuso’s the Loft, a recurring party Mancuso held at his NYC loft. These spaces prioritized an ethos of inclusion, nondiscrimination, equity, and accessibility, where queer and trans folks, as well as everyone else, could freely be themselves.

UN/TUCK is a trans/queer music and art collective out of Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in Autumn 2017, UN/TUCK is ever-evolving in the conversation centered around trans equality, safe spaces, and events curated and inhabited by queer people. Our goal is to create a platform for queer and trans electronic musicians and artists as a vehicle to elevate marginalized voices. We seek to collaborate with and center queer, trans, and femme artists both locally and nationally as a way to combat inequalities of visibility in the world of electronic music. We use our platform to promote, produce, and showcase events that are centered around specific themes paying homage to minority voices as well as forward-thinking art shows that range from ambient music to footwork. Through our mission we hope to normalize trans and queer people in everyday spaces.

Mazzy Mann (MXMRS) is a performance artist, Charlotte Street Foundation artist-in-residence, producer, musician, and visual artist. She has had a long and diverse artistic career in Kansas City, Missouri. With roots in noise and experimental music, she has done everything from folk, ambient electronic, jazz, and most recently, art pop. Through all these endeavors, her main focus is on her performance art. Never content to stand still, she is always pushing the boundaries of queer and trans artistic expression.

Lorelei Kretsinger (Floraviolet) is a producer, multi-instrumentalist, filmmaker, model, and co-founder of UN/TUCK from Kansas City, MO. Her music and art has taken many forms. From psychedelic folk, ambient video game-inspired soundscapes, to dark pop-forward dance beats, her sound is constantly evolving.

Zoey Shopmaker (BTRFLY) is an electronic producer, DJ, rapper, writer and co-founder of UN/TUCK. Born and raised in Kansas City, Zoey graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in creative writing and human sexuality in 2013. She has since built a career out of activism, mental health, music, and public communication. From networking and building safe spaces within her community to performing intimate freestyles for open mic crowds, Zoey is constantly working to elevate trans and queer voices locally and internationally.

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