Jwlhyfer

Morbid Sensualist, Absinthuer, Iconoclast, Bohemian, Dandy, Corsetiere, Performance Artist, Conundrum, "Riddle Without an Answer." Purveyer of exquisite curiosities; including d'Hivernage Artisan Absinthe. Intimate editions painstakingly created by hand. Each bottle a completely unique work of art.Sing songs from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance; as well as English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish Traditional music. Sing in English, French and Italian currently. I am working slowly on songs in Welsh, Hebrew, and Irish. I also sing some Classical and modern music. I am currently working on utilizing my voice as an instrument and hope to record more and perform my own music within a few years. You can sometimes catch me singing at the Sunday night Irish session at the Starry Plough in Berkeley.I am the Artistic Director/Founder of a Theatrical group: "Bella Donna; Venetian Courtesans." Our web site is at www.belladonnacourtesans.comI am an assemblage/installation/performance artist, and I also enjoy drawing very much. I'm hoping to integrate all of these things. My style is fairly unique; sort of an architectural/cubist portraiture influenced by the old masters in many ways. I enjoy the tools of drawing very much and find the range of line qualitiy in drawing to be the most expressive form for my portraits. I'm currently working on transforming my living space into an installation as well as a record of the personas I have embodied.I've been a Performance Artist since the early 80's when I presented performance based poetry at various venues in the underground culture of clubs in Los Angeles in the early days of Goth or, as it was known then, "Death Rock" or "Gloom and Doom." At that time I did portraits of Rozz Williams/Ron Athey (in one face,) Eva O, Vali Myers and many self portraits. My work has been purchased by a few loyal collectors consistantly throughout the years.I moved into a focus on Costume when I needed costumes for my Performances. I got somewhat sidetracked by the "Living History" Convention/Costuming scene. In more recent years I have been slowly going back to my roots in more avant garde art. I am interested to see if I can take costume into a sculptural level combined with performance.I am somewhat apolitical but increasingly find a few causes that are close to my heart. The laws that allow child rape to continue within families must be changed. There is a call to extend the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse (child rape) and this is appropriate. People who rape children should be treated the same as murderers and sent away forever.The health system in our country is pathetic. More research needs to be put towards cures for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalghia. These debilitating illnesses are destroying lives and need to be taken seriously and stopped. I ask any celebrity who has one or both of these illnesses to step forward and put their name behind an effort to find the money for the research we need to stop this.And last but not lease, our planet is in trouble. You know what I mean. Climate change is a reality and you can take steps right now to change things in your life to help reverse the damage we've done.Enough soap boxing. Do your part.