Sevvin Cee

My name is Sevvin C, and I am a multidisciplinary artist. I use art as a mechanism to capture and release my own pent up, restless energy. Its function is to serve as a conduit for the restless thoughts and concerns that cycle through my mind - whether they be thoughts on morality, identity, politics, social issues, or otherwise. I characterize a lot of my art as “productive disruption” because it is work that effectively distracts one from daily rituals, yet it is never without purpose.

When something inspires me- whether it’s a phrase or a rhythm created of my own volition - it becomes difficult to remain still in my body. I take hold of that sensation and begin a process of reciting and recording that which has inspired me. This process may play out as the first strokes of a painting, the first steps in a complex series of bodily movements, or perhaps the first lines of a narrative. Once these have emerged, I like to work in complete silence. I employ all media - whether it be painting, drawing, performance, sound, or writing - with the same goal in mind: the release of pent up energy through exaggerated means of gesture and performance. “Freak Communications” is a series of mixed-media drawings from my Project “Sevvin the Passion Freak.” The series consists of drawings done from the perspective of The Passion Freak, a persona I use to explore the internal dilemma of love and hatred as it pertains to humanity. I use materials such as spray paint, ink, oil pastel, etc. The drawings are fueled by brief spurts of momentum until I am physically satisfied, usually taking no longer than 30 minutes. The process for each varies whether that is a still-life done by imitating the movement of my eyes or creating my own linguistic characters for a message that can only be understood through the gestures of creating them.

What drives my work is a “purpose” which remains consistent, which is to inspire other people to question what it is they prioritize about themselves and their life, and whether these daily rituals have to be constant and unchanging. For example, in thinking about “productive disruption” my introduction to this type of work is a collaborative performance, where I take on the persona “Sevvin The Passion Freak”, and there are moments where The Passion Freak interacts with the crowd. Through these interactions, I make the viewers feel foreign and out of place despite my performance being the true oddity in the space. My appearance adds to this contradiction, as I am adorned in a flamboyant costume, including my colorful “sissy-dyke” mask made from plaster and painted with acrylic paint. The performance is to make the viewers question what their relationship is to myself, the purpose of the performance as it pertains to the movement of the body, sound, pace of the performance, interactive moments, even the time of day and the location. What does it mean to be a viewer to these strange beings inside a restricted space of movement midday, yet to still be treated as the spectacle? If it merely looks like I am playing pretend, what can be said about that?

Instagram: @sorcerxsevvin77