Sade Mica is a recent University of Salford graduate exploring the self in relation to gender; through performance they demonstrate the freedom and restraints they feel, regarding their gender expression, while replicating the contours of the British countryside using their body - their posture being the artwork.
These short films feature only the sounds of nature, allowing the viewer to feel calm and relaxed while watching Mica create these shapes. So much so, that I was inspired to document my own walks through the countryside during the first COVID-19 UK lockdown.
In addition to performance, Mica also conveys the fact that gender is performative, rather than binary, through their creation of contemporary, fashionable binders that celebrate and embrace being trans/gender non-conforming. Mica’s forward-thinking clothing brings to light the expectations that are put on trans people to ‘pass’ as their chosen gender in the public eye, by turning the clothing item that is key for these people to go undetected into something to wear openly as a statement of pride.
Besides the textile binders, one of my favourite works of Mica’s is A O T H S, a short film of 01:12, the video only consists of bold, white words in capital letters on a black background that the author, Mica, can be heard saying. They say they lie about not knowing how they identify, because they do, “BUT WORDS ARE HEAVY N I’M TRYNA KEEP IT LIGHT. TOO SKINNY TO BE SOMMAT I COULD BE. THAT WHITE ANDROGYNY MY BIG BLACK BODY IS TOO BURLY FOR.” This is my favourite excerpt from the piece, the way Mica summonses how their body size affects their ability to pass without glossing over how that clearly affects them and is what most likely led them to creating the fashionable binders.
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