Michelina Risbeck Deconstructs Masculinity Through Devonix
Stamps alumna Michelina Risbeck (BFA ’16) recently received the 2019 Otherwise Fellowship Award as her drag persona Devonix. Devonix was also voted Top Five Best Drag King Drag Newcomer for Flame Magazine 2020 and had a Performer Spotlight feature on the New Orleans Drag And Burlesque Instagram page.
Devonix has performed in some of the top shows and events in New Orleans including Southern Decadence. He has also assisted as the groom in the Mx. Pageant Pageant, the largest drag competition in New Orleans and was featured in the annual Best in Show showcase honoring the most memorable drag acts of the year.
Since debuting at the Cycle 10 Draguation Show on August 20th 2019, Devonix has performed as a rock god, a robot overlord, a flesh-eating monster, a vampire, and the Phantom. He combines elements of dramatic theatrics, dark intensity, special effects makeup, dance, and live singing in his numbers.
Gender is a social construct. From birth we are placed in either the roles of pink, dress, and beauty or blue, suit, and strength. We are taught how to look and behave based on our sex. These constant copies of traditional gender roles are reinforced and acted upon daily. Judith Butler argues that gender is performative. That these daily acts are performances to fit in the assigned gender role. Drag rejects the notion of sex and gender as the same. Drag is seen as performance where reality is not. Drag is set on a stage and enhanced with theatrics. Reality is not. And yet, we are all performing gender in reality, rehearsing it daily. The difference is drag is unbound by the limitations of reality, accepting and welcoming fantasy.
Devonix is my fantasy. He’s the dark avant-garde king where gender, performance, reality, and fantasy vibrate in a creative destruction. He brings out my masculine energy and provides an emotional release to the dark parts of my soul. I’m humbled that I am able to freely express my gender-bending artwork in a place with people who love and encourage me. I wouldn’t be able to exist without my drag family and I wouldn’t be able to thrive without my fan support and friends. I am living my best life through Devonix.
To stay up to date on Devonix’s upcoming shows in New Orleans, follow him on Facebook and Instagram.
Upcoming Events
Big Deal Burlesque
February 20, 9pm
Get Down Lounge
3036 St. Claude Avenue
New Orleans, Louisiana
Untitled Drag Show
March 5, 11pm
Allways Lounge
2240 St. Claude Avenue
New Orleans, Louisiana
Photo by Alexander Addams
Photo by Roy Guste
Photo by Roy Guste
Photo by Michelina Risbeck