We recently connected with Marlon Meikle and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Marlon, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
I have the best/worst of both worlds! I am an actor/artist/drag queen with a “regular” day job. I’ve had supervisors say things like “I don’t know how do you it all!” and, honestly, I don’t know either. It’s absolutely necessary for survival, however. My day job funds my investments in my drag costumes and wigs, which leads to more opportunities. But I’ve also had to turn down gigs because they conflict with my day job responsibilities. Sometimes it’s a Catch- 22. Mostly it feels like a rube goldberg machine as life.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a queer Jamaican-born, LA-based educator, arts school administrator, actor, MC/Host, recording artist and drag queen. I’ve been seen as “Dame Booty Clench” on the FOX sitcom Call Me Kat and in the Emmy-winning MAX historical docuseries “Book of Queer” as Bayard Rustin, among other characters.
My Theatre and Live Performance work includes originating the role of “Dharma” in the Off-Broadway play Happily After Ever. Working at New York’s 59E59 Theater, Le Poisson Rouge, Signature Theatre, Incubator Arts Project, River and Rail Theatre, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Cry Havoc Theatre and The Public Theater.
Every year I host dozens of events, competitions and showcases both in and out of drag. This work blurs the lines as artist and educator and I find myself in places like Stanton Virginia Pride Festival teaching folks about the history of drag and hosting the ACLU Summer Talent Showcase online during the pandemic. At the same time my day -to-day work has me reviewing the art and fashion portfolios for Parsons School of Design, one of the world’s top art schools.
My drag persona Indigo Dai and the foundation of my creative work is about letting shame die to let our pride live freely.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Don’t let the “Perfect” be the enemy of the “Good”. Don’t be afraid to be seen trying (and failing).
I have wrestled with and still wrestle with intense personal shame from growing up in a religious environment as a queer person. There were (and still are) tons of voices (many in authority) that treat folks like me as a dartboard for criticism – growing up like this, you begin to take on that critical lens as your worldview and it’s that same lens that may prevent you from starting something new, or trying something again because you know it needs practice.
Drag makeup is hard, especially the first few times you try it. I’d work on my look and then wash it all off. But at some point, I had to stop putting on makeup alone in my apartment and erasing the mistakes – and start stepping out into the world, because that’s the only way I could grow.
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I saw an NFT at the Centre Pompidou in Paris last April. It was installed meticulously – mounted like a flatscreen TV across from some other artists’ modern sculptures. I took a picture of the NFT and felt like (as misguided as it may be) I gamed the system- like the NFT was now mine. I didn’t feel like this about any of the other physical art that I took photos of and I think that is because NFTs are inherently digital, and me taking a photo of an acrylic painting didn’t feel the same because, at the end of the day, the acrylic painting is still a physical thing and the NFT, although presented physically on the TV screen, isn’t.
Seeing an NFT in that museum context made the physical world around me feel less permanent.
Considering this, I believe that NFTs have artistic value, but I also believe they are, obviously, a money laundering scheme. But also money is made up, so who cares!
Contact Info:
- Website: marlonmeikle.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyindigodai/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marlonmichaelmeikle
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlon-meikle-478b6b13/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj-vqmGipwCtMKnlaIoXPNw
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/album/2Y7DaQCAnwWIC7b2ptCUWR https://music.apple.com/us/artist/indigo-dai/1682570947