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Writer's pictureMonica Blignaut

Katy Jalili

Artist 37

Katy Jalili Identity Art


Katy Jalili (Katayoun Jalilipour) is an Iranian born gender queer multidisciplinary artist, performer and writer. Her research is on the contemporary performing arts, and how the femme identity and the female body occupies spaces.


Katy believes that their queer identity has helped them to make more bold artistic choices. "Living as a queer person of colour, an immigrant and a person that is subjected to misogyny forces you to be bold and claim spaces." Katy explains.


Recently, they have been exploring their body image and identity by creating gifs that act as a rebuttal to the subconscious judgements that they feel from the wider world. Identifying as femme, Katy is keen to ensure that more diverse voices are heard within the queer community.

"We wouldn't have a movement or an LGBTQ scene without femmes or trans women of colour." Katy continues. "We love glamorising femmes, but we never want to listen to them, we only want to look at them."


Moving forward, Katy wants to use her work to make people re-think how they contribute to systems of oppression that effect queer people. "The best thing is when I get comments saying, "I can relate to that", that's all you really want to hear."






Some have described Katy’s performances as provocative, terrifying, and wickedly entertaining. They channel the spirit of punk to express their frustrations with society.



Katy’s work is unsettling and raw. The female body is explored in its wholeness. The male gaze is shunned and the female nude is reclaimed – naked women come in all shapes and sizes and have body hair, in other word’s they are natural bodies. Female anatomy, menstruation and queerness are also very present in Katy’s work.


Their boldness and aesthetic is striking and the fact that they are multidisciplinary is so important spreading different views and experiences into all spheres of art.



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