Last weekend I teamed up with amazing ladies Missy Macabre (left) and Karina Akopyan (right) for a Holy Trinity shoot!
Each of us are inspired by religious iconography, and put together these outfits, so it only made sense to do a shoot together. I love how we look like slightly different styles/cultures, with Missy quite traditional Catholic, myself as some kind of Spanish incarnation, and Karina as Russian Orthodox.
More coming soon! Please DO NOT remove this text.
I left Russian Orthodox Church (where I was baptized by birth, and I’ve been practicing Orthodox for almost 15 years), but still, this costume is deeply disrespectful for any person to whom Russian Orthodoxy is an important part of heritage and culture. Now I understand the feelings of natives who see white girls in war bonnet headdresses: this looks almost the same. No, this is not cool.
Well, Karina is from Russia, and her life there has obviously inspired a big part of her art. I can’t really speak much more for her, but don’t automatically assume that it’s cultural appropriation - she’s from that culture, she’s got every right to dress like this.
Relating a RUSSIAN woman dressing in a RUSSIAN Orthodox style of dress to white girls in war bonnets is…. no.
Edit: I since found out I mislabelled Karina’s look, it’s more Byzantium than Orthodox. Which I guess intaier should have known seeing as they were part of the Orthodox Church for so long. Good job.
Sorry, I’m not religious person and a long-time follower of your art, but I’m Russian and this is hella offensive for any Orthodox believer since it features a sacred imagery and nudity combined. So, unless you wanted to make a statement…
Also, want an advice? If somebody says it’s offensive - it’s likely very much is.
You reblogged the edit, which states that it’s inspired more by Byzantine art rather than Russian Orthodox (although Karina does use that inspiration in her art). I’m not very read-up on the inspirations she chose for this outfit, so I can’t comment much more than that. Obviously the whole point of the shoot is inspired by religion in general, and obviously we ARE making a statement by doing so; all art is a statement.
Christianity (and many other religions) hasn’t been known for treating women well. Nudity does not always equate to sex, but female sexuality is so shocking that a bit of sideboob is considered offensive. The nude was featured often in Christian art, and yet you are offended because you’ve been brain-washed to think of all female nudity as dirty and provocative.
Karina is Russian, I’m part-Ukrainian (as if you can’t tell from our names). The original commenter was relating us to white girls wearing war bonnets - which is offensive not only to us, but it completely misses the point of why non-natives wearing war bonnets is problematic (which I’m not going to explain to you, because apparently you guys are the rule-book on cultural appropriation). Fuck the golden rule - someone will always find something offensive, especially when female nudity is concerned.
I didn’t say I was offended - I am not a Christian, and I’m oh-so-fine with boobies, but the thing is, Orthodox named Orthodox for a reason. Nudity is not featured in Orthodox art (nor Russian, nor Greek for that matter, because religious art of Orthodox Christianity has a shit ton of rules), except maybe glimpses of single breastfeeding boob of Holy Mother.
Like, it is a no-no. A no-no size of Muslim no-no. No-no size of “proceed at your own risk”, because last month all religious dudes of Russia got seriously offended by politician\socialite Ksenia Sobchak just dressing as Orthodox priest, complete with beard and all. She is Russian, obviously, but she is a woman and all priests of Orthodoxy are male, you see. And you probably heard that Pussy Riot did actual prison time just for doing inappropriate things in Orthodox cathedral.
It is offensive. Here is the thought: you can be Russian, Orthodox, and still do offensive things to Russians or Orthodox, it’s not an ethnicity thing, it doesn’t work like that, there is no excuse or token friends you can bring into this. I also do not think there are some “degrees” of being offensive, you either are or not, there is not much difference. The difference is purpose - wearing war bonnet to get wasted at party and take some pics is not good, while using nudity and religious symbolism for art statement sits right with me. But not with some other people.
I am not saying “burn that image before God strikes you down, I am scared of side-boob”, I am just warning you that this image does not fit right with some of the beliefs of some people here. That is what I was saying, because I do believe that artist should question the boundaries of traditions and rules, but said artist must be aware and ready for all kinds of consequences that may follow. Somebody will always be offended, true, but they have right to be.
I’m not sure if you are deliberately misunderstanding or misreading my responses, so ok:
1. If women doing anything other than being an object/of use to men is offensive to Orthodox Russians, then I’m GLAD this is offensive. Like I said, someone will be always be offended where female sexuality is concerned, and that’s not something I’ll apologise for. It’s DISGUSTING that Ksenia and Pussy Riot have been oppressed by this, and young Russian women should be standing up to this tradition of misogyny.
2. I mentioned nudity in Christian art, not Orthodox.
3. White girls in war bonnets is problematic because (among other things) of how white people pretty much destroyed Native culture. We are Russian/Ukrainian so it is NOT the same thing, plus, the Russian Orthodox haven’t been oppressed by another culture, like Native Americans have. Far fucking from it.
4. There are degrees of being offended when you misunderstand the meaning or context behind the offensive act.
5. Stop getting offended for other people. If you aren’t offended, and I’ve not denied that people may find it offensive, then why do you keep mentioning how offensive it is? It’s not being forced down the throats of the Russian Orthodox people, like how they may force their religious morals down the throats of others.
6. “said artist must be aware and ready for all kinds of consequences that may follow” do you see me not tackling these “consequences” head on? I could just ignore you.
> plus, the Russian Orthodox haven’t been oppressed by another culture, like Native Americans have. Far fucking from it.
Russian Orthodoxy haven't been oppressed by another culture? Are you really that ignorant?
Even if we skip the earlier history, when it was under a constant threat from the Poles who, for hudreds of years, have been trying to convert everyone and his dog to Catholicism, you are talking about religion that has almost been eradicated less than a hundred years ago. Churches were blown up, priests were shot down, people were forbidden to say prayers, all that to establish a new and absolutely alien culture, atheistic to its very core, communism. Tens of thousands were slaughtered, religious symbols were torn down, cathedrals turned into piles of bricks, consert halls and latrines, desecrated, vandalized. Communists even went as far as to create a pseudo-religion with its own sets of holidays to completely erase everything remniscent of Russian Orthodoxy.
If anything of this is news for you, than you don't know squat about a culture that you are trying to appropriate, oh, I beg your pardon, associate with. Otherwise you would have known why people are acting so protective.
And you being "1\16 Cherokee" doesn't give you any excuse to insult and ridicule a culture that you neither know, nor understand. Or not even want to understand, for than matter. You've got no moral right to use the holy symbols of my people for your personal egoistic needs, for fame and profit. And if, as it turns out, you despise everything they stand for, it only makes you look even worse.
