I first met Lil' Elote on my birthday in April 2009, as she crossed the threshhold of my shabby, dark apartment on 17th Street in a candy-striped dress and shiny white pumps, bearing giant helium balloons shaped like butterflies. She was as remarkable for the ways she differed from the form of her alter-ego, my friend and colleague Young Joon Kwak, as she was for the ways she reflected his spirit — witty, generous, warm, sassy, and sincerely strange. What other queen would enter their first drag competition in a celestial jumpsuit, lipsyncing through cake-white makeup and platinum locks over the blaring synthetic beats of Björk's "Declare Independence," while audience members screamed their allegiance to the sparkling black pennant of Elotelandia?

This summer, as Young began to delve deeper into drag, interweaving it with his artistic practice, he also happened upon an opportunity to audition for a new, as-yet-unnamed reality TV show in which artists vie for New York gallery stardom, in a scenario much like the designers on Project Runway. Young made it to the semi-finals, and while we in Chicago rooted for him all the way, we're glad he is still here with us. Below is our conversation about this time.

— Aay Preston-Myint for Monsters and Dust

 

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M&D: Who is Lil Elote? How was she born/how did you meet her? Who inspires her? How would you describe her look?

YJK: Lil elote is my drag persona. She’s inspired by representations of feminine fabulous glory in popular culture, which throughout my childhood I wanted to embody, but for many reasons I felt were off-limits. In this way, she’s born of trauma, of repression and oppression-- the triumph of these fabulous women through pain and the struggle for love through their songs and personas mirrored my desire to overcome my own personal struggles, and camp, how it typically functions for the gays. Lil Elote’s look is always changing. When I first started assuming the persona, I had crazy outfits, crazy heels, white makeup I’d cake on kabuki/white-face style, and platinum blonde hair, very aggressive performances, she was about being critical and fabulous at the same time… Now, I’m trying out different looks, from a more fun and pop roller-girl type queen, such as I did on Pride, and now I want to do a performance where I am that quintessential disco diva, taken to the next level.