Katya Zamolodchikova - drag + performance art

So I'm big fan of Rupaul's Drag Race, one of my absolute favorite queens on the show being Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova, also known as simply Katya - a queen from Boston known for their outrageous Russian persona. Before Drag Race, however, Brian McCook (their real name) studied Performance Art at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where he first found his interest in drag performance. His knowledge of performance art visibly translates into his insane and twisted humor, as well as his erratic and captivating performances as Katya. He's truly unlike any queen I've ever seen, bringing such an interesting twist to the world of drag.

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katya_Zamolodchikova

Now, I follow Katya on pretty much everything, and a couple days ago they uploaded a video to their youtube channel titled "RuUnion with Detox" - referring to her being on Season 2 of Drag Race All Stars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXb6APovQio

(ok wtf rebecca why are you showing us this of all things)

I was completely confused upon first watching the video, but by the end I was completely floored by it. Though a lot of people in this class, not knowing the context of the video, will probably not get a lot of the references, I found the video super interesting, especially knowing the queen's background as an aspiring performance artist. Also having personally seen Katya on season 7 of Drag Race as well as All Stars 2, I was especially enamored to the references to complete inner turmoil and untreated mental illness.

UGHHH. Honestly I feel like not many in this class are gonna get me on this, but I was SO PUMPED by this video. This queen is just so bizarre and hysterical on so many levels, and seeing them finally incorporate their crazy performance pieces into their drag career just gets me so hyped. Additionally, I felt SO inspired by this video in terms of performance and incorporating ideas and themes of the turmoil of untreated mental illness and just straight up absurdity.

Anyway. Check this queen out if you love drag race/drag as a whole. She's so great, and an amazing performer. ALSO watch drag race so I can talk about the show with more people. :)