On this episode, I get to share our discussion with my friend and art-conspirator, Morgan Shay (Instagram). We recorded this one in person, and just cut loose with esoteric art talk, the macabre, and even took a dive into what her experience with body suspension has been like.
A dark and thoughtful minded artist, she presents a very elegant and yet raw aesthetic with her work. She’s been into dark art since she was very young, and has cultivated it consistently through the years. Her work spans mediums of drawing and illustration, performance art, and even bringing creatures to life with handmade masks, headdresses, and costume design.
The recurring topic of self discovery and expression is one of the things I love the most about our discussions with Morgan. Bringing creatures from off the canvas, and onto a public stage is something that I hold the highest in regard when it comes to art. It takes an insane amount of actualized imagination and dedication to create theatrical moments that are impactful, and reflective of one’s identity as an artist. Are we hiding behind masks, or are the masks just other versions of the self that are being presented?
While we both share self deprecation as a tenet of our personalities, we also laugh quite a bit at the absurdity of it all. Sure, we get deep and esoteric, but we’re also not here to take things too seriously. Life is heavy enough without us ruminating all the time about it. I think this is why we love the underground immersive art and theatre scene we both discovered in NYC, even though we came at it from very different directions. From live art drawing sessions to strange ambient art installations, Morgan has breathed life into her creatures in tangible ways.
The ability to stay in a state of interdisciplinary flux allows for artists to find catharsis in different ways. Different disciplines make it possible to explore different faces of our multi-faceted identities as humans, and this means being able to delve into different mediums as needed. Some are better than others for different reasons. And with folks like Morgan, there is such a deep well of creativity that wants to erupt once the muse visits, that it can be overwhelming to give life to all of the ideas trying to rise to the surface. As we discuss early on, the muse just shows the fuck up whenever she wants to, and we can’t really control that.
However, her friend Sascha’s perspective that ideas we have can essentially enter a state of storage is wildly prolific to me. We lose track of so many ideas in our lives as artists, and that’s sad to think about sometimes. But then there is the reality of having too many ideas, which results in an overwhelming amount of unrealized projects that lead to paralysis.
Maybe part of the issue is that we just want to do it right, and can’t find the time/resources, which means it’s better not to do it at all? Morgan makes the point that sometimes some seemingly cheesy ideas can end up being brilliant once executed. You just never know till you do the thing.
Touching not so lightly on themes of vulnerability and trust, we work our way towards the repetitive nature of certain stories, and show how there’s nothing wrong with that. In a roundabout way this allows the discussion to veer towards the topic of body suspension - the medium that I am most familiar with as a facilitator and artist.
Having suspended and worked with Morgan on creative projects, it is really great to hear her perspective on hook suspension. This is the first time on this podcast that we hear from somebody who suspends, but does not facilitate it for others. As an artist, her approach to it is very explicitly visual, and encompasses a set of intense feelings around it. Whereas most folks call it a curiosity, but she labels her need to try it as “the pursuit of knowledge.”
Her explanation of what her experience was like is so honest, and from the heart, and I hope that by listening to her talk about it you can understand how powerful and transformative the experience can be. Artists that suspend tend to have a much more complex narrative in approaching experiences like this, as is apparent in Morgan’s breakdown of what realizations she arrived at through having experienced it firsthand.
The piece, “Void Passenger,” that we created with Morgan and Adam Courtney is a great example of how this medium is so demanding, especially on the person suspending. We are not only bleeding for our art, it is also challenging our understanding of what we are capable of, and how we perceive our fragility as humans.
I think that Morgan breaks down what we are doing incredibly well. From the depth of what we are doing, to how vulnerability is such a huge part of making our art impactful with suspension, she absolutely nails how we are essentially on a journey as humans capable of becoming more than we think (or are told) that we are. And just the sheer beauty of having folks be able to see the suspension experience, and not have to actually undergo it to get something out of it, is essentially one of the things that I love the most about this medium.
We are becoming vulnerable, so that you don’t have to, and still be able to experience the level of connection we seek through not just suspension, but life in general. And paradoxically, this leads to an understanding of just how strong we are, and how much we can overcome.
Circling back to the nature of being inclined to make dark art, we visit the beauty of how powerful art can be. One can find beauty in all forms, colors, and styles, without having to engage with these aesthetics that stand outside of our own work. Morgan’s honesty is really comforting, because I think many artists today feel pressured to work with subject matter that is more popular, as opposed to what their own imagination tells them to.
Interdisciplinary art is where it’s at. Experience everything, draw inspiration from everything, and find what you do and don’t like by processing everything. There is beauty everywhere if you keep an open mind, and you can transmute it into something meaningful if you put your mind to it.
Also, as promised, here are a couple of photos of one of my cats in his tracksuit:
This weekend, I’ll be sharing our discussion with the thoughtful Images_Sombres. An artist I met through NFT spaces, he was one of my earlier guests on Transmissions from the Void, back when it was still a Twitter Spaces. I’ve always found his insights on art, life, and culture to be really good for one’s mental health, and I’m excited to share his perspective on things with you. Check him out on Twitter:
Transmission #17 - Morgan Shay