Artist Spotlight
This month in our web exclusive spotlight, Angelic Allie dives into the world of multi-talented artist, Charlot Laveau
Angelic Allie: Welcome to Black Noise Charlot, I absolutely adore the multi-faceted artist and multi-dimensional being that you are. For our readers who don’t know you, what is it you do?
Charlot Laveau: Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me! I really appreciate the community this publication fosters and am excited to read other through the narratives of the other interviewees in the future. So, I am an activist, dominatrix, performing artist, and musician with a lifelong love of alternative culture and horror media.
AA: If there was one thing you would want our readers to know about you, what would it be?
CL: I am a proudly Black queer non-binary feminist whose values include LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC liberation, bodily autonomy, and anti-fascism. My moral code influences my daily life.
AA: How did you get into so many different creative spaces?
CL: Regular travel as well as engagement with supportive queer friendly Black alternative spaces online gave me the opportunity to meet so many interesting people and share my love of alternative art forms with other enthusiasts. I am grateful for the networks I have been able to engage with, because I've had so many life altering opportunities for free expression throughout my late teens and 20's that I would not have had otherwise. Engagement with healthy creative spaces really brought me out of the shell I existed in as a child, and I have developed into a social creature who's not afraid to use my voice and express myself freely.
AA: What’s your background as far as training when it comes to all the different art forms you work in?
CL: I have been a musician since preteen years, and am trained in piano and voice. I am self taught in music production and have been creating music since I was a teenager. I used to cringe thinking about some of my early music, but now I think back on it fondly because it was a coping mechanism for me and established the foundation for my current musical projects.
I have always been fascinated by performance art and circus, and am grateful to have been able to develop my lyra and pole skills. Aerial arts, while painful, is such a fun and rewarding form of exercise and I enjoy pushing my body further. Burlesque and aerial ultimately evolved from my time spent in queer club scenes, dancing in strip clubs and working in dungeon spaces during my early 20's. There's such an overlap of these worlds and it's not uncommon for queer people to dabble in multiple arenas simultaneously. I also love sewing costumes and exploring fabric stores, and my late grandmother was instrumental in me developing this passion. She and my living grandmother (who is also very creative) encourage me to continue pushing my art further and constantly develop my skill sets, because it helps me process complex emotions as a neurodivergent individual.
AA: With modeling, or being a Domina, or any of your other artistic avenues, do you feel you have to go into “character” for each one? If so, how do you get into each different persona?
CL: I do have different characters for each of my avenues. Charlot Laveau, who I often go by for burlesque and alternative modeling, is a character I created that combines gulf coast history, my spiritual practices, and enthusiasm for horror. This character models her craft after Marie Laveau, who's name she carries with gratitude. Charlot is an ageless show ghoul that originates from a Storyville-esque era. My inspirations over time have included dystopian cyberpunk aestheticism, religious trauma, horror heroines and Giallo creatures. I usually get into her persona through vintage, darkwave, nu metal or dark electronic music I have associated with her, preparing my outfits, and rehearsing.
As a professional dominatrix, I center RACK and SSC philosophy in all that I do. I do occasionally engage in horror roleplay, and enjoy customizing the room and costumery to fit the vibe I'm going for in a session. The work of the late Mistress Velvet inspired me years ago to incorporate Black feminist theory into my craft. While I am no stranger to incorporating dark humor into my sessions, I take a no nonsense approach to my practice, and view professional domination as a form of reparation. I get into character the moment I don my regalia and sort out the instruments I will use. As a Black femme, I often experience erasure and exclusion in my daily life. I consider domination empowering, and it has restored a sense of self confidence and ability to command a space if I so choose. In a way, I disempower those that would otherwise have some sort of structural privilege over me and attempt to weaponize that dynamic or hold something over my head.
AA: As a model, what is your favorite type of set to work on (i.e., outdoors, artistically created set, green screen)?
CL: I enjoy working with unconventional industrial space or incorporating natural elements. I am very in tune with my body and its movements, and enjoy working dynamically with new environments.
AA: The BDSM/kink scene to a lot of people is a taboo subject, what is one stigma about it that you would change if you could?
CL: I hope for BDSM lifestylers to pay respects to queer sex workers who engage in these activities as a form of labor and risk criminalization for doing so. Whorephobia has no place within BDSM, and anyone who engages with spaces that exist on the borderlines of the sex industry should make an effort to educate themselves on decriminalization and how stigma impacts queer and trans sex workers. I have complicated feelings about media, entertainment, and activities that are heavily sex worker inspired while disregarding or cruelly mocking the historic influence sex workers had on the development of these mediums.
The liberties many enjoy, from pole sport, to kink playtime, to leather and latex wear, are spin offs of behavior that actual sex workers are criminalized and murdered for. Many will hypocritically engage in such behavior while being loudly exclusionary and whorephobic, which inherently contributes to cultures of violence and stigma that disproportionately impacts trans BIPOC survival sex workers. Sex workers such as Marsha P. Johnson, Miss Major, and Cecilia Gentili shaped feminist and labor rights movements, pushed for reproductive justice and bodily autonomy, and deconstructed stigmas intersecting with a number of marginalized identities. Sex work is a form of labor people engage in to survive capitalism just like any job. For some it was a way to establish financial freedom, feed their families, and escape domestic violence when no other options were available. Everyone who engages in BDSM for fun should center sex worker advocacy and decriminalization efforts in their lives, highlight the contributions of trans sex worker activists, and deconstruct stigmatizing rhetoric.
AA: Do you feel as if there is a benefit to people being open minded and sticking their toes in the water of the kink scene to see past the taboo?
CL: Kink/BDSM, when administered in a safe environment with trained professionals and negotiations set in place, can be a great avenue to work through psychological trauma. BDSM sessions should follow a situation dependent framework e.g. (SSC - safe, sane and consensual / RACK - risk aware consensual kink), respect limits, and prioritize emotional and physical safety of all participants. BDSM helps to establish healthy communication patterns, navigate different power dynamics, explore interests in transparent and caring environments, and develop a deeper understanding of bodily autonomy.
AA: How would you describe your music to our readers? What part of creating it do you enjoy the most?
CL: My music project is called final grrrl, which I describe as a post riot grrrl, witchhouse and technopunk mashup. It combines my love of the Black riot grrrl scene (sista grrrl) and the "final girl" horror trope. This is music for queer and trans BIPOC radicals who survive the horrors of existing despite all odds. I enjoy the electronic production aspects of creating this music as well as pouring intersectional feminist ideals and emotion about global oppression into my work. This is a project that has been in development for quite awhile, so I'm excited to finally be publicly sharing it.
AA: If you had to choose one realm of art that you create in, which would you choose and why?
CL: I would definitely choose music. Music has helped me navigate some of the most difficult periods of my life, and I would not be the person I am today without the musicians whose creativity pierced through my soul. Music production is one of my soothing activities for PTSD, because it allows me to release pent up emotion and create sonic landscapes that make sense to me. I love to scream and sing my heart out when I'm alone, it feels as though a force field of protection forms around me and the words I speak are self actualizing and affirming. Music has been a great avenue for me to acknowledge my raw feelings.
AA: Was there a point where you wanted to give up on any aspect of your art? If so, what kept you going?
CL: Art is not something I have ever particularly wanted to give up. Sure there are societal pressures to abandon interests that aren't focused on building capital, but I am anti-capitalist and care more about affirming what brings my heart peace and joy in this era of my life. I feel that I have so much more to unlock as I get older, and that I will leave some small impression on the underground art world before I die. I just want my voice to be heard and for my forms of self expression to reach people who think similarly to me, and support their endeavors equally. That's enough to keep me going.
AA: What is your biggest passion as an artist? As a person?
CL: My biggest passion as an artist is using my art as an avenue to creatively express my emotions around denial of bodily autonomy and global oppression. I am very passionate about DIY BIPOC alternative scenes and am forever grateful for the pioneers of these movements that set the foundation for my peers and I to feel comfortable enough to share our artforms. As a person, my biggest passion is constant metamorphosis in every sense.
AA: Outside of being an artist, what do you do with your personal time?
CL: Outside of art, I am an activist for a variety of causes. I enjoy reading history books as well as horror and fantasy novels. I love to spend time decompressing in nature and am an avid consumer of horror media. I love exploring vintage stores and collecting antiques and oddities. I really enjoy engaging with safe and inclusive alternative club scenes where I can be myself without getting harassed, and hanging out with my dear friends.
AA: I appreciate your work as an activist, for our readers could you give a rundown of what causes you advocate for?
CL: I am an activist out of necessity, because my loved ones and I exist between so many different oppressed identities. My focuses over the years have included environmental justice, LGBTQIA2S+ rights, reproductive justice, Black and Indigenous liberation, and anti-war efforts.
AA: What is your biggest pet peeve about our current society?
CL: I am upset at the amount of funding western countries pour into militarization and weapons manufacturing while millions are subjected to famine, genocide, environmental collapse, homelessness, and lack of accessible healthcare. Fascism, colonialism, and white supremacy have corrupted many, and the violent imperial actions of global superpowers have horrific consequences. I want all indigenous people of the world (from Palestine to Congo, from Sudan to Haiti, from Tigray to West Papua) to see liberation from oppressive forces and return of their rightful land.
AA: As an activist, what would the message be that you want to convey to the public? Do you have any advice for anyone who may want to be more involved?
CL: I am just a human who cares about others and wants others to care too. I would suggest always striving to remain informed on world issues through decolonial educational resources, constantly pushing your sociopolitical education further, engaging in direct action, demanding change of your local and state governments, and donating directly to populations in need of aid. I currently operate as a nomad rather than tying myself to any specific space, however I have a Linktree with a few direct action and educational resources that may be of help to those seeking to get more involved. (https://linktr.ee/decolonialsupport) Investigate all news sources and discern what could be government propaganda, take surveillance seriously, and always seek out information from impacted populations. Decolonizing and transforming our mindsets is a lifelong practice.
AA: If there was one thing you wanted to share with aspiring artists, what would it be?
CL: Your worth is not tied to your productivity. Capitalism can make it difficult to pour as much time and energy into our artforms as we may like, but every small step made towards developing your craft or completing your project deserves celebration. No one else in the world is like you, thus you will gradually birth masterpieces that are kaleidoscopes of your unique set of viewpoints and identities. Be authentically yourself, and create for yourself regardless of external perceptions. Authenticity always shines through, and other artists connect with that.
AA: What has been your greatest joy along your journey?
CL: My personal development and healing is something I am very proud of. I have pulled myself out of truly bleak environments and eras of my life, and I am still here. Healing is a lifelong process but I am not backing away from it. I am proud to have learned to say no and I'm not afraid to express myself or speak my mind.
AA: Do you have any upcoming projects you would like to tell our readers about?
CL: I am continuing work on my final grrrl music project over the next few years and I'm really excited for whatever comes of it!
You can follow Charlot on Instagram at Charlot Laveau on IG and find more at Charlot Laveau Official
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