Flying In Chains with Aerial Andi

Sideshow/Contortionist/Aerial Performer Rated: X Social Media: @aerial.andi and @andilandart

Last year I had the joy of watching Andi perform her chain act for the first time while attending a local tattoo expo. She shocked the crowd as everyone gathered, leaving them in awe and amazement by her powerful energy and absolute talent in chains. Luckily the internet is a thing and I have been a big fan of hers cheering on a talented fellow sideshow performer in any way possible. Getting to hear her story has been nothing short of mind-blowing and influential. Hellflower Media is honored to welcome out newest member to the site!

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I'm a multi-media artist who interrogates the gender grotesque, the idea that established gender roles and current power structures inherently connect sex and violence.  I work in the aerial arts, performance, and experimental digital art. I've been an artist and performer my whole life basically, and combining multiple elements of both practices has been really challenging but also rewarding. I'm excited to bring it into new spaces and contexts for different types of audiences. How I've found my vibe and influencers for my own expression is by looking at a lot of filmmakers as well as circus artists, anyone working in the surreal artist world. Jodorowsky and David Lynch are my biggest filmmaker inspirations, and the local burlesque scene here in Phoenix has been incredibly influential on the trajectory of my practice. My biggest hurdle had been Covid, because originally, I was a painter/drawer/performer but had to switch my practice into the digital when the world shut down. It ended up working out for me in the end because my creative practice really took off once I switched to the digital and started my career. Now that the world has opened back up I can use that support to explore the work within the real world again with live performances. Continuing my practice through digital networks was a challenge, but my greatest lesson has been finding the right people and community to hone in on my craft has been crucial, finding the right vibe of people to embrace what I'm doing is super important to me. My favorite moment was my last burlesque chains act, chains gets a very visceral reaction from the crowd and it was very special to share my craft in that space because it was the first time that apparatus was shown there at Prowess Pole Fitness for their Holiday Cabaret. My biggest accomplishment has been breaking into the local Burlesque scene here in the Phoenix area but also my film career. I am a multi International award winning filmmaker and have had work screened at over 20 film festivals around the world including Slamdance Film Festival, Oxford Film Festival, SUPERNOVA Digital Animation Film Festival, Brussels Independent Film Festival, Sydney World Film Festival, Obskuur Ghent Film Festival, Loudon Arts Film Festival, and New Orleans Film Festival. My recent awards include Best Animated Film at Maryland International Film Festival, Best Experimental Film at the Syndey World Film Festival in Syndey, Australia and Best Underground Film at the Obkuur Ghent Film Festival in Ghent, Belgium, and I am a three time Tarkovski Grant recipient. I look forward to combining the two practices further. My biggest stigma has always been censorship. No matter what medium I work in, the idea always centers around the female body which is egregiously censored especially if the representation of it is sexually charged. Through performative time-based media, I explore this idea through artistic digital simulacra and the spectacle of traditionally provocative performance. My creative practice explores sexually charged performance work, such as burlesque and other low brow acts considered outside the norm of well-mannered women, to push the boundaries of gender presentation through transgressive means. Intentionally provoking these reactions by means of uncomfortable displays of gender presentation through time-based performance productions, combined with aspects of the simulacra and spectacle, helps understand and uncover the nature of the female mystique. I argue that the capacity of the female body to inhibit this unique power structure of interconnections can be harnessed to achieve an ultimate reality attained through subjective experiences.

My pointers for others would be Don't wait! If you have an idea (or some kind of artistic concept) just start making and don't be afraid to fail. Take risks, be flexible with your process, you will learn what you need to know as you make your work. Right now I am excited about combining my performance work within my digital practice, exploring both VR/AR films and experiences that include both live action performance as well as a digital component. I have several performance exhibitions coming up such as Debauchery Productions in February at the Nile, as well as VISCERAL as part of the Eternal Art Collective in DC in March. Looking forward to applying for more different venues and showing my work to variety of different audiences.