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GUTTER CANDY Presents 'THE SUICIDES'

Well! I've been away from blogging for over a month and now I'm back into the swing of things. Posts will now be coming every Tuesday and Saturday! And one of the new features of the blog will be original Gutter Candy editorials. 

To start off the series I recently shot with Dublin photographer Suzan Primrose and put together an editorial inspired by the novel and film,'The Virgin Suicides'. Much more to come! Let me know what you think below! X

 

 

Candy Warhol & Barbie Coco

 

Just  a few backstage snaps with myself and drag sister Barbie Coco.

Candy Warhol For Tom Oliver

 

This week I performed in The Savoy Cork for Cork Pride. One of the creations I wore was an amazing black and gold mermaid dress by Tom Oliver. Tom is a Cork based young designer who I have just begun working with. Lots more to come!

Dublin Pride 2013

From Left : Avril Nytrate,Dolly Grip,Veda,Minnie,Victoria Secret,Davina Devine,Candy Warhol,April Showers

 

This summer was my first proper Dublin Pride. My outfit was created by Terry Murphy of Golly Gosh Botique and we came up with a concept of a sea witch/sea siren. A Gothic pirate ship and patch were made as a head and eye piece and the dress has sea shells, rotting flowers and studs lined out over a classic mermaid dress.

 

 

SOSB 'Neon Contrails' Music Video

Two months ago I posted about filming a music video, 'Neon Contrails', for Irish electro group 'Sounds Of System Breakdown'. It took two days of filming in various locations but the end product was well worth it! The video has had a great response in Ireland and online and it has been featured in Hot Press, GCN, The Journal and other media. If you haven't seen the video yet, check it out below and let me know what you think!

Wheres My Driver?

Panti - 'All Dolled Up : Restitched'

2006. RTE decide to air a series of camp programming over what they called a,'Queer Weekend'. I was almost 15. On the brink of coming out and still a little confused as to where I fitted in. Although I didn't fully understand the concept of Queer, the idea of an entire weekend of it got me very excited. So I locked my bedroom door,turned on my small television and sat on the edge of my bed. First up, a documentary featuring Shirley Temple Bar doing her stuff all across America.Oddly fascinating. Next, a show that would change my life for ever. A screening of the Alternative Miss Ireland. What happened over those two hours I had no idea. A bunch of strange,weird,sparkly contestants lip synching and dancing on stage and all in some sort of character. I had no idea what this was but I was hooked. And the entire affair was hosted none other by Panti, I was officially reeled in.

Over the next four years I had come out, finished school and packed my bags for the bright lights...of Limerick. It was during my first two years of art college I began to put an idea together. Still not fully understanding or experiencing drag I started putting a character together, all with the screening of AMI in my head. For two years in a row I was put forward as a contestant for the Alternative Miss Cork and Limerick. And for two years in a row those shows were cancelled. Finally, in 2011 I entered the Alternative Miss Ireland. Exausted, excited and overwhelmed each contestant was brought downstairs to meet the producers. Suddenly a friendly face stepped forward and began to thank everyone and remind us all why we were here. It was Panti. And I had just realised that my little country boy dream was happening and the tears came.

'Just Keep Smiling' I thought. Terrified,Overwhelmed & Excited, I 'meet' Panti for the first time.

Three short years later and Panti is ever more inspiring. Next month marks a year since I have begun regular appearences with Panti at The Panti Show. An experience that changed everything for me and still teaches me so much. I've learned countless tricks of the trade, a little Brazilian and to never encourage Blathnaid McGee.

Its while watching and listening to Panti that I fully realised what a natural storyteller she is. Wit and humour come easy to this Queen and she was born for the theater. One regret I always had while looking at the posters on the Pantibar walls was that I missed out on the chances to experience Panti in a full on theater show. Sold-Out success' like 'In These Shoes', 'All Dolled Up' and 'A Woman In Progress' have been hailed by critics and the public alike. And in a time when queer theater really needs a good uplift, Panti has decided to return.

'All Dolled Up : Restitched' is the very best of Panti. A mix of all the old with the new and everything in between.  I CANNOT WAIT. 

IT'S PANTI,BITCH. 

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! http://www.abbeytheatre.ie/whats_on/event/all-dolled-up-restitched/

Can't get enough? Watch Panti's 'Ask A Dublin Drag' Here :

Squirelfriends

 

Hard at work with Davina Devine last week at 'Thursty Thursdays' at The George. We love a strong eye.

The Little Theater Of Dolls Interview

Raisa and Frida, two young Scandinavian artists and puppeters make up 'The Little Theater Of Dolls', a UK based theater company. Their puppets, costumes and productions  are quirky, dark and fairytale like. So I was obsessed immediatly and had to interview them!

1 - You met in London, but grew up in Scandinavia, what made you decide to move to the UK?

We both ended up in London by chance in a way. Raisa's intention was to come to London just for a few months before going back to Helsinki to study photography and Frida was on her way to study in Spain and had just come via London to visit a friend. I guess destiny had something else planned for us since we are still here after all these years, and working on something quite different to what we had initially planned.
 

2 - What inspired you both as children?

We were both very much inspired by nature. We both played a lot outside, making things from found objects from an early age. Raisa's most magical childhood memories are from her grandmother’s magical pink attic where she could spend hours playing and digging for weird old dusty objects from the past. And both of us were really inspired by fairytales that continue to enchant us to this very day. In fact our work now aspires to create the illusion that these old found objects carry those surreal and magical qualities in them, just as we believed as a children.
 

3 - How did you decide to start a puppets theater? Were you surprised by the amount of work it took?

We have both been fascinated by storytelling in art and that was the reason we ended up studying illustration. Frida started experimenting with animation while Raisa started making sculptural installation pieces. As our work took more three dimensional form, we both got a thought in our heads: What if you could make the artwork and its characters alive, in real time? We see puppetry as a tool to make our artwork alive and breathing and what is so amazing about it is that it has such a direct communication with the audience.

  As Raisa graduated from college, she decided to go to an art collective (Lower Bottom Gallery) in Oakland in California and Frida suggested to come with and we got a crazy idea of making a puppet show together. She had one more year of college left but decided to take a year out. We had never worked together or made maneuverable puppets, let alone made a whole puppet production! So we went to California in Spring 2006 where we made our first production. It has been such hard work ever since but we both love it. I guess we had no idea what massive life choice we made when we decided to embark on this project, it has really taken over our lives in many ways. But we love it so much we both have such passion for it since there are so many things one can do with this medium, only the sky is the limit.

4 - Your puppets can be both sweet yet dark - what inspires the stories and looks of the puppets?

The process is very visual; the story develops as we work on the elements and gradually the whole production starts making sense. It is hard to pinpoint where exactly the visual inspiration comes from; it is so many things: experimentation, things around us and things we find, artists who’s work we admire, myths and folk tales, nature, cities, books and films, music. Sometimes we don't even realise where the inspiration has come from until the work is complete. 

 

5 - What are your plans for the future?  Are there any plans for more productions or ventures?

 We are working on our new production at the moment. This will be the biggest production we have made so far, it is one hour in duration so it will be a lot of work, a truly epic process. We are hoping to finish the production by next Spring and then go on tour.