Heather Raquel Phillips
Heather Raquel Phillips creates critical and celebratory disruptions within a framework that welcomes conversations about power, sexuality, deviance, freedom, failure and desire.
Tell us about you and your work
My name is Heather Raquel Phillips and I’m an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Philadelphia, the place I call home. I’m a mixed baby of Boriqua descent and I believe in the unfixed fluidity of life, sexuality & gender expression. My identity which has provided me with a lifetime of examination has been the very thing that has created the fundamental concepts in my work. Working in a foundation of len-based practices, I oscillate between documentary and conceptual work. My work always begins with the performative body, dips into critiques of social constructs around race, class, and gender and allows the viewer a glimpse into another world that exists outside of the status quo, where the inhabitants live free and liberated.
What inspires you?
My friends inspire me, they are the most incredible group of people. Without them there is no practice for me.
What does community mean to you?
A community is a place where one finds identification with others, possibly safety- that’s my idea of community. It’s small, it’s tight-knit. People notice if you’re there, if you’re off or if you’re in need of support. Community offers a sense of belonging. Being a person with an unfixed identity has challenged what typical community looks like to me. I’ve found that I could build community based on similar values & interests.
Favorite films
City of God, Pee Wee Big adventure, Desperate Living
Favorite songs
What’s Happening, Brother by the late, great Marvin Gaye
Favorite places
There’s no place like home, but if I’m not home, New Orleans & La Isla Del Encanto