The Mutual Mirror: Sky Cubacub by Riva Lehrer, Riva Lehrer by Sky Cubacub
(Part of the Risk Pictures project)
2024
Drawing: charcoal, acetate, acrylic, Japanese papers, organdy, thread, metal, gilding, 30"​ x 44"​ x 3"​
Garment: jacket, shirt, and pants in iridescent neoprene fabric, with embroidery and gold lamé, dimensions variable​
The Risk Pictures: Mutual Mirror is an act of reciprocal observation. These two works form one tandem portrait. My mixed-media drawing depicts fashion designer Sky Cubacub.
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Their portrait touches on multiple facets of Cubacub’s identity, as Filipinx, Queer, non-binary, and Crip (which includes being Neurodivergent and Mad, with ME/CFS and PCOS conditions). Here is a link to their practice of designing and educating for radical visibility: https://rebirthgarments.com/
Their focus is on people who are often seen as “non-normative” for reasons of disability, gender, sexuality, toxic racial history. Cubacub creates neon-bright, exuberant creations that aim to break them free of shame spirals foisted on them in the past. Cubacub created the embroidered organdy figures: from left to right: S.R.F.C., TransFat, Miss Alexis, Jan Heyn-Cubacub, and Bryce Love. Sky also built the paper chainmaille (a version of the metal chainmaille garments that are one of their signature lines).
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The 3-piece garment is Sky Cubacub’s interpretation of me: my portrait, through their studio practice. My scoliosis is depicted by golden embroidery on the back, taken from X-Rays of my spine.
