Girl, I'll Cover You

From religious customs to non-spiritual trauma responses, rituals are how womxn heal and cultivate strength within ourselves and our communities. Using a dichotomy of cutting and building as acts of healing, cleansing, and power, Chanel Matsunami Govreau and Raeleen Kao combine their abilities in costume design and printmaking to create a performative print experience by completely covering themselves in paper armor.

Woodcut prints depicting sharp fragments of Gundam-esque robots and masses of hair, a historic symbol of female vanity, both protect and obscure the artists’ bodies as they arm one another. During this process of transformation they offer layers of protec- tion and warmth to physically and metaphorically build each other up as womxn. Through this performance, they look to create a new ritual of mutual empowerment that counters the competition and jealousy of internalized sexism.

Matsunami and Kao further collaborated with Detroit musicians and educators Clara Hardie (Detroit Youth Volume) and Cecelia Sharpe (Urban Stringz) for musical support.

Holding House

Detroit, MI

Performance with Screen-Print and Relief-Print on Paper

2017

• They Watch You Thrive
• Yamanba
• Yellow Ranger in Sunset Park
• Zanna
• Dark Honey
• Yellow Ranger Evolution
• Midnight Work
• Family Armor
• Hapa Bruthas
• Requesting Access 1
• Requesting Access 2
• Yellow Ranger Air Raid Strike
• Offend to Defend
• Godpsila vs Queen Gidrea
• On the Set of 'Pirate Rezu'

<Back