Naomi Renée

carefully worded 19 year old bug / oddity enthusiast with skin made from silk worms themselves.

Usually how I meet people is through social media. Almost every time. So naturally I would immediately follow someone like Naomi on instagram. Her make up skills alone always had me entranced. Eventually we got to meet in person and then I would start seeing this lady on my porch more and more frequently. Always bouncing creative ideas off each other's noggins.

Naomi has always been fascinated with moths in particular. A large moth tattoo in the center of her chest and an instagram name even dedicated to the little creatures, where you can see videos and other photos of her handling all sorts of exotic pets and insects. The dusty colors of moth wings always reminded me of the color schemes I'd see in her attire. Which of course, her wardrobe is something to be envied.

 

Naomi and I both collect oddities such as bones, teeth and such. When I got to see her collections and decorations in her bedroom, I almost fainted. Such morbid beauties.

I asked her when was the first time she started to become interested in vulture culture. 

" I think I was a sophomore in high school, so maybe 15 or 16 years old. " and then went on about how she found a squirrel skull smack in the middle of the side walk on day. " I've been picking up dead shit ever since. "

We also bonded instantly over our love for CocoRosie. Bianca and Sierra Casidy being huge inspirations to her. Along with antiques, nature and a good dose of nihilism. 

" I'd like to think that everything I create physically is infused with original artistic thought. I consciously try to do that, I mean. " she replied when I asked her about the mediums of art she likes to dabble in. " Make up artistry, clothing construction / alteration, block printing, preserved entomology displays / insect pinning, and vulture culture as a whole. "

Naomi has recently been diving into a lot of collaborative work with other artists and photographers. " Independently I enjoy working various insect displays, sewing projects and patch making. " Just the other day I had ran into her outside of The Avenue Cafe at a little wooden table, carving away at blocks for an opossum patch that she is creating now.

When I approached Naomi about my ideas for this monochrome series, she immediately mentioned her Michelle Moe harness bralette and collection of vintage lingerie pieces. I asked her to wear a white ghost sheet like you'd see in the cartoons, and she rode over on her bicycle, threw on her delicates and praced around in the backyard with me snapping behind her. At the end of it, riding through my neighborhood on her bike with the bed sheet still over her body. Whipping behind her, occasionally showing off a little black garter belt to pair with a delighted smile.
 

 

Since September of 2015 I've been working on a project that I named

Spectre Mag.

During a shift at my retail job, I was struck with inspiration to start this project. Inspired by the upcoming Halloween season (which honestly is never seasonal for myself or my people), inspired by my fascination with lingerie and all things sheer, inspired by this group of moving people: artistic, queer, femme and emotive individuals that have stirred my life up in ways I couldn't even imagine.

 

My ideas came in spurts of themes. To have each of these people model for certain planned out shoots. Sultry, spooky portraiture. To showcase body positivity with a twist of disturbing or creepy crawlies. It's going to be May soon, and since then I have accumulated over 16 shoots of people. I originally wanted this project to be done by Halloween of 2015 and to be printed in a monochrome zine. At first it was a calendar. But that idea was scrapped pretty quickly.

 

Having little to no experience in zine printing, amongst other delays, I am now here, showcasing all of my shoots and series to their full glory instead of limiting each shoot to only a few photos on a page. Although I'd still like to print a zine, I think this will now be my main focus. To create an online zine for not JUST the original idea of Spectre, but for the spirit of its focus and to continue its style.

 

 

 

To tease, here are a few shots of my close friend Naomi, a bug enthusiast and exotic pet owner that is also interested in "vulture culture.” Her shoot was the first I had taken. A simple idea of a sheet ghost revealing her sexy boney insides.

 

I want to show someone feeling sexy.

I want to leave the audience feeling haunted.

 

Welcome to the start of something magical.