Why RuPaul? There are plenty of Atlanta queens who deserve to be appreciated in such a way, Longley-Cook says, but he wanted to cast a wider net and attract much more of the general public to the project.
He attributes the rise in popularity of drag directly to RuPaul. Her show “Drag Race” and all its spinoffs invited drag stars into the households of gay and straight people and presented it in a way that is a bit more “digestible” to society at large, Longley-Cook explains.
Also, RuPaul got her start in Atlanta where she broke away from the stereotypical Midtown drag queen scene and went punk with mohawks, androgynous attire and enough attitude to shoot her to the top of her game in the 1990s and keep her there today.
“Drag is subversively political,” says Longley-Cook, who is gay. “It comes from a punk ethos. Drag can be whatever you want.”
‘Supermodel’ stitching
For his project, Longley-Cook sought and received 35 volunteers to learn cross stitch. He then “froze” 35 frames from the end of RuPaul’s “Supermodel” where she’s serving face — mugging for the camera and making wild and crazy expressions.
Because the video is in black and white and would be hard to embroider, Longley-Cook gave the stitchers the responsibility of assigning a color scheme to their templates.
Each frame is 12,800 stitches and when animated — the front and the back — they will all combine for a rainbow of colors. Like using every crayon in the box, as RuPaul advises.
(Aubrey Longley-Cook. Photo by Dyana Bagby)
“She deserves this rainbow-fied crazy art portrait,” Longley-Cook says of RuPaul.
Longley-Cook began his experiment with embroidering drag queens by using portrait shots of his roommate, Jared Dawson, aka Lavonia Elberton, one of the East Atlanta “dumpster diving” drag queens. A year ago he started embroidering nine frames. He’s almost finished. The final result will be a one-second loop as well as nine framed portraits of Lavonia.
(Lavonia Elberton)
The RuPaul Cross Stitch Animation Workshop began with four weeks of learning at WonderRoot focused on cross stitch as well as the drag culture, with many of the East Atlanta queens, including Ellisorous Rex, Violet Chachki, Lavonia Elberton, Brigitte Bidet and Kryean Kally performing for the stitchers.
There’s also been a “stitch-and-bitch” at Mary’s and at other local bars and restaurants. Part of the project is to create community as well as art, Longley-Cook says.
Longley-Cook has nothing but respect for RuPaul and what she has done for the world of drag. But don’t forget your hometown heroes, he says.
“While RuPaul is great, I hope people will be inspired to not stay home and sit on their couches watching her show but remember to go out and support their local queens who work hard to entertain,” he says.
Those participating in the workshop are: Kimberly Binns, Romy Aura Maloon, Maggie Ginestra, Kaitlin Commiskey, Elizabeth Yates, Christa Tinsley Spaht, Jess Bernhart, Brooke Hatfield, Andre Keichian, Clay Butterworth, Olisa Corcoran, Tricia Hersey-Patrick, Katherine Bernhart, Sally Hansell, Sarah Durning, Rachel Burnstein, Genevieve Leavitt, Jared Dawson, Taryn Kelly, Nathan Sharratt, Adrienne Lowe, Nathaniel Smith, Ashley Anderson, Steve Sauer, Chris Seely, Sarah Martha Shipman, Jane Garver, Amy Salley, Lauren Cunningham, Mike Stasny, Lauren McDonald, Kate Doubler, Christina León, Ben Cheaves and Drew Watts.
Top photo: A finished frame in from the Rupaul Cross Stitch Animation Workshop by Nathan Sharratt. (Courtesy photo)