FUTURE SELF FASHION SHOW 2023
THIS SHOW EVOKES OUR FUTURE SELVES AND CELEBRATES THE EVERYDAY GREATNESS OF OUR COMMUNITY. LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE ALLOWS US TO FEEL THE POTENCY OF WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. WE CHOOSE TO EXPRESS THE LOVE WE HAVE FOR EACH OTHER. DON’T DIE WONDERING!
AUGUST 13, 2023. ON THE VENUS CAZIMI IN LEO ✨
A few wonderful people in our community will float the runway as their future selves. Future generations will look back on each of them as guides for how to live free, imperfect lives.
The idea for this show came to me from a therapeutic practice where I write to my future self, and respond from my future self. Thank you to my therapist, Nathan Shara, for introducing me to this practice.
FUTURE LIONS 🦁🪐
Read about the FUTURE LIONS in this show. The following are self-written descriptions of who their future self is. I drew their future lion portraits— each person’s future self as a lion. The portraits copy the style of Ricardo Cavolo’s Tarot Del Fuego deck and Cristy Road Carrera’s The Next World Tarot deck.
adé
embodies the sounds of cardinals and morning doves, summer nights and light rains. like spotting a double rainbow after a perfect storm. we lovingly accept and embrace our aging, dying body. we are a cozy, sensual, sexual, steamy, trickster, morbid, beloved sage bimbo comedian in love and styled by earthsky. we are rich zaza supreme, ching ching la la la la la. we love our friends kids and play active roles in raising them to be kind, radical adults. our sun continues to shine bright in our 11th whole sign house. we feel safe, connected, and authentic in all relationships - plant, animal, alien, unknown. we are deeply invested in our local solidarity economy and are experiencing wild success with anything we touch or pursue. we live every day as ritual poesis, carrying a spectral multi-octave presence so potent and secure you might think I'm a floating baobab tree. ocean blood, river eyes, self-possessed and still no pets.
portrait inspiration notes: four of wands. building something big, little by little. cycle nourishes the roots. long socks. the color orange. magic right beneath at all times. many gold bracelets. sound is a constant. satisfied.
sufia
I am a gentle fire of initiative, full of sparkle and rebirth and joy. I live a devotional path, co-creating Beauty with Earth & Sky. I find satisfaction in attending to root causes, understand everything in terms of its fractal nature, and bring a hawk’s-eye view to the dinner party.
I spend much of my time listening to and loving on the earth, gazing wonderingly at beautiful places, and steeping in the sensual power of embodying a world made of Love. My closest loves are ones who also understand the delicious surrender of living an evolutionary life.
You can likely find me building flower altars, curating a spa-like experience to rest in together, or making chocolate fondue and opening a pomegranate to share with you.
portrait inspiration notes: 8 of swords. 2 of pentacles. being a crossroads person. yes rainbows and flowers, but not without death and bones. four elements, four directions. feet directly in the fire. on my way to the in between.
nassim
I’ll be a graphic designer and artist. I’d be like Basquiat, but no drugs. Lots of doodles and tattoos. Mostly wearing tank tops and expensive sneakers. Playful and relaxed. Making posters for people and doing graffiti. Giving money to homeless people. Listening to music when I have hard feelings, with a mug of hot chocolate. A dog named Pogo the second, or Good Boy. Salif and me will be living in an apartment together in downtown Durham by the skatepark. I’ll have a great relationship with my mom and I’ll live with her until the apartment.
portrait inspiration notes: page of wands. dreaming and birthing fiery, new ideas. mountain as spiritual path. guided by intuition.
annie
I belong. I belong to myself and I belong to and with my people. I have and make space to be the full weight of myself while others can come in their fullness, complexity, and simplicity. I move bravely from center and in my dignity. I am still curious, and excited. I still seek adventure. I am still learning, I am still becoming and returning to myself. I breathe deeply my connection to myself, to the love I give, to the love offered to me, to the natural world, to the fabric we are all woven into. My children have roots in me while their branches stretch beyond the horizons.
portrait inspiration notes: 3 of swords. 10 of wands. mastery through heartbreak and loss. did the hard work to bloom with boundaries. eternal inner rainbow through it all.
quisha
daughter… cousin… sib. auntie. kin… qui flows with heart. breaking. open. gray veneer gives way to small bright bursts of magenta, lavender, an assortment of blues, floral everywhere. bold. curious. healing. plural. ki has walked this path before, not with kin’s own feet… but she knows it through the elder’s dreams, prayers and offerings… the ancestors who practiced humility while still proclaiming freedom… the hushed tones over church pews and hollers across vast tobacco fields… the hot summers… wading into the cool waters of jones lake and swimming in the lumbee river… rising, flooding, re-memory. return. on land they uncover old structures with stable foundations and beautifully decorated, slightly porous walls. buildup. grief. cracks… open palms invite relief. the salve of lessons and understanding. alters… scars… deep breaths… rest, ease. grief. deep breaths. rest. ease. qui becomes a cup of tea lightly sweetened… just the right temp. for a sip... a good porch sit… a cooling fan in the heat… warm delightful morsels. conversation. laughter. remembering... filling… feeling… full… love. abundant.
portrait inspiration notes: high priestess (reversed). gets quiet and listens to intuition. builds self-trust. finds calm center. connected to ancestors’ worlds.
liz
Came from stardust and in the process of this thing called “life” is returning to stardust. Walking with the continued Knowing that I have been guided and protected throughout, I lean in to all the shifting truths. I have been a Land Cruiser and continue to do so. Time zones and terrains continue to hold me. My hands continue to listen and watch bodies as a sacred medicine, and my intuition has sharpened and melts to connect with what the whole person in front of me needs. My eyes get BIG and at home with the ocean when she receives me so I make sure we continue to meet and meet again. We continue to offer one another gifts and kinship. I have become more familiar with my shine and shy less away from it. My sexy continues to generously flow from ripe fruits, lovers gazes, self pleasure, fantasies, curiosity of myself and others, slow stretches to shifting skies, laughter in intimacy, long embraces and intentional caresses. I have gotten to know soils, saved thousands of gallons of rainfall which has been redirected to gardens of heirloom seeds I have been gifted and in turn gift to others for the next generations. We eat seasonally and closer to our center as an intentional practice for sustainability and to lessen the impacts to our EarthMom.
portrait inspiration notes: page of cups (reversed). unleashing a flow of creativity that was once deeply private. not letting doubt stop you. ‘what do i have to lose?’ listening and opening to her intuition.
lewis
OCTOCORDION: I am a strange pink shade because I feel like it. I fly and glide and I am free. I change colors because I feel like it, blue for joy, red for shy, brown for quiet. I am quiet. Not sharp but clear, not lonely but confident in my corner. I create my surroundings, I adventure, I make music but dwell in sea sounds, reverberations. My skin is the skin of the universe, liquid, wild, alive.
portrait inspiration notes: queen of pentacles (reversed). solitude and retreat. builds internal resources / attention. self-nurturing feeds community work and abundance.
catherine
I illuminate the strange beauty left after industrial “progress.” This beauty—unlike the malignant toxicity that created it—puts me in balance with the way of things. The beauty I mean is rebar ribcages and glass-bottle habitats, chain-linked neuropathways and tin-can armor. I’m built of the stuff my ancestors created: right angles, Dollar Generals, yellow-bulbed arrows, ferris wheels, The Sapona. The Sapona is a concrete ship half submerged near Bimini, run aground during World War II. I still sit in fifteen feet of water. From the surface, I look like an abandoned warehouse. Dilapidated rebar juts skyward; a broken ladder dangles from a rope that leads to a crumbling top deck. But underwater, I’m alive with schooling fish, a patchwork of coral sprawling over slabs of bone, a sea turtle sleeping under a ledge. Underwater, the ship is no longer a ship.
portrait inspiration notes: queen of wands (reversed). letting go of self-limiting beliefs. the night sky is the ocean — finding belonging in the limitless expanse. alone time. horse love.
maryam
i am connected to my inner sense of knowing and am fearless in acting on it.
i am at ease in my aging body and make silly sounds and dance in public in a way that embarrasses people around me. i sing to myself and talk to myself, and to the objects and creatures around me. i fill the holes of my memory by letting go of a need to know. i’m a silly and kind old auntie who’s known for exaggerating stories of the olden days and for her curiosity about and excitement for what young people are into. i have found comfort and stability in my relationship with the Divine.
portrait inspiration notes: queen of pentacles. the devil. the gift of creating beauty and sanctuary in any space. simultaneously shows us our shadows, the underbelly of life— the parts we’d rather hide—by showing hers. knows that unshakeable beauty comes from soul-level transformation.
yashna
The main marker of time passing was Yashna’s hair. The first third of her life was thick and black - wild waves and uncontrollable frizz like ocean foam. The last third seems to be marked by a thinner silver - a lighter load and calmer waters, or maybe just as wild but now she knew how to be with the waves. There was that middle third where it was black with streaks of gray at the crown - that familiar in between place of home and knowing - being neither here nor there but rather both at the same time. When she was young she wanted to be an elder, now that she is an elder she misses being a child. Longing is still her favorite emotion - not always likable, but reliable, stirring, informative. Though now she knows that longing can move you towards something - possibly fulfillment or acceptance, either way - a nice close to the reaching. On any given day she hears her name in the mouths of those she loves calling her Masi, Aunty, sister, friend, daughter, comrade, partner, wife, Yash, Yashna, Yashna Maya, love, darling, sweetie, honey, sugar. She takes in their love and loves them back and nobody keeps score. She sees beauty everywhere, including in the mirror. Creative expression bursts forth. Peaceful presence persists. Gratitude guides grace.
portrait inspiration notes: 8 of cups (reversed). aligns life with her deepest contentment. centered goodbye to what must go.
holden
Emerging from the overgrowth of what was, what has become is something altogether complex yet simplistically divine. The ability to be, in all its intricacies and brilliance was the clearest call the future could offer. The release of perception. The grounding of presence. The shift of perspective. In all its sights, sounds, colors, and textures.
portrait inspiration notes: 4 of pentacles (reversed). creates a steady environment within themselves. stabilizes a sanctuary of a life. finds balance by turning towards love.
grace
My creativity is my life source. All of my projects give me life. My projects reflect my hard work, dedication and discernment to only take on work that aligns with my values. My work is sustainable and meaningful. My work showers love on my community and not only demonstrates but inspires possibility. I am caring towards myself and others. I dream big and inspire others to dream big too. I am grateful for my life challenges that teach and shape me. I celebrate my accomplishments. I am blessed and boundaried. I am kind towards others and I do not feel guilty for setting boundaries with people and situations that drain me and take me out of alignment with myself and my values. My relationships are balanced, reciprocal and mutually supportive. My talents and my body are gifts; I channel spirit via creative expressions. I flow as I am in deep relationship with the divine.
Inspired by two cards from the Kapwa Tarot Deck:
III - Lakapati and XVII - Tala (both in contrary). Drawn on 28.7.23 in Isle of Palms, SC
portrait inspiration notes: the high priestess. travels between realms. knows there is a thin veil between the seen/unseen. sacred knowledge carrier. plays with duality. initiated. tuned in.
leilani
I have grown so much. I float between the worlds of words, water, and the next roller skating adventure. I am surrounded by and engaged with community, and fueled by deep, meaningful connections. My home is clean and I have a lovely garden. My curiosity and pleasure is ever-present. I am full of grace and radiate joy and warmth, as well as that “I know who I am, come for me and you will regret it” aura that is distinctly Black femme. I connect with nature every day. My wardrobe and my hair is always correct. I continue to learn and grow and expand.
portrait inspiration notes: 4 of pentacles (reversed). rollerskating with a vintage dress. peaceful inner environment, reflected through her calm and clean home. that peace makes way for loving others.
tavia
I am a work of art. Cloaked in the beauty and wisdom living creatively with the earth has brought me. My aura thick with self actualization and sovereignty. I live a mutative and materially creative life seeding and building new worlds of joy, beauty, and wholeness with my kinfolk. Grounded in loving relationships and kinship networks, our example of liberation and freedom carving a new path of love and belonging onto the skin of the earth. I surround myself with loving partners, children, animals and plants and deep relationships of all kinds support me in being and I radiate loving support and kindness to them as well. I leave a blazing trail of fiery, bold authenticity, audacious love, and obscene joy as a testimony to the beauty one can co-create with Earth in a lifetime.
portrait inspiration notes: mastery. apprenticeship. bringing together many disciplines and systems to birth something new. cancer moon. 29th degree capricorn.
charla & aurelia
We play a lot and are outwardly loud about it. It's intense and we aren’t sorry about being loud. Playing happens at any time of day and anywhere. Spontaneity is well accepted and integrated.
It sounds like glass breaking when we laugh. This time, no one is upset about breaking the glass because there is more value in laughter and joy over material things. Literally joy is contained in our names.
We look like a summer sunset at two time points – similar but different. Deep orange, yellows, purples that shift and change second to second. And no one questions why we have changed, they are just glad we did,we are here and hoping we will continue to shift as we need to for tomorrow.
To honor our ancestors, namely the feminine figures in our family, we started a fruit forest in our yard and grew some flowers too. We are really proud of it and glad we get to feed our friends with plants that are so meaningful to us. These include lots of fig trees, paw paws, wild blackberries and a magnolia tree that beings, both animals and people, like to camp out in because its branches touch the ground. On Sundays, we give our loved ones flowers and send handwritten “anonymous” love letters about our dreams and what we love most about community. All of it helps us remember who we are - loud, glassy sunsets, full of abundance.
portrait inspiration notes: 3 of swords (reversed). release of negative self talk, makes way for boundless self-compassion. inner confidence. grief work meets silver lining. aurelia in the garden.
jax
A freaky disco cowboy, I ride horses and tunes and glide on waves of pain and pleasure. A radical record keeper, I archive beauty and chaos in vivid colors, wet clay, rope, and scraps of paper and moss. An alchemical clown, I prepare meals and spells of abundance, perversion, laughter, rest, and release.
The connection - deep and psychic - with myself, my beloveds, and the earth is overflowing. I create gardens and shelters for critters to dine and bask. I am in relationship with all the elements. I am so full - full of love, food, pleasure, song, and quiet. There is no dichotomy. Just me… and everything.
portrait inspiration notes: three of pentacles. radical teamwork and collaboration to build something lasting, and that our community needs. lil freak.
nikki & selah
we are moving in harmony. mother + daughter, water + soil. we have come to know each other through the soft cushion of adoration and the rough borders of respect. we each have come into our own...owning our power, our voice, our spaciousness, our being. where our paths diverge, our lineage and love tether us to each other through tall mountains, dense forests, calm seas, cold rivers and sweltering swamps. we are whiskey women who need the grass between our toes. we are makers and growers. we take the space we need and make the space for our love(s) to thrive. our understanding began without words and so there it will end one day. we take in the world and each other, refuge never being far away. we remember many lives in our bones and we are grateful.
portrait inspiration notes: queen of swords. truth seeking brings transformation. independent. quiet, perceptive way of being which supports discernment. straight shooter. land listeners. forever changing each other.
munira
A quiet dandy with a fannypack full of postcards to mail out while my digital communication device registers an obscene number of unread messages. How I spend my days and my years is guided by decades of big and small routines and traditions I've made with myself and with my friends that help me to tap into all the joy and ease that the universe has to offer. I hold onto the analogue even as everything around me moves away from it because I love the feeling of turning over a record or slicing up fruit to put on the grill when a friend comes overl or befriending the middle-aged dyke who works at the post office. I'm still so hungry for living and connecting and re-connecting with myself and with others.
portrait inspiration notes: the moon. releasing ghosts. healing fear through feeling. intimate with her intuition — the unknown, subconscious. the light of the moon. rose petals, minor decadence in all things. dog, to be both tame and wild in her mind.
hiva
I am a mountain range.
portrait inspiration notes: 2 of swords. ability to navigate complex terrain using both her head and heart. conscious choices. allowing intuition to guide. self-trust.
nahid
Future Nahid finds an unshakable sense of home and belonging wherever they are. With friends, chosen and co-created family, neighbors who truly know them in their wholeness.
Future Nahid’s wisdom has softened the rough and rigid edges of 30yo Nahid, helping them to live by their “yes”s instead of their “no”s, to allow some of the unruliness and stubbornness of 20yo Nahid back into their life: the thrill, without the destruction.
Future Nahid has an uninhibited capacity for joy and aliveness, along with an intimate closeness with grief and death. They touch and smell and look at leaves and flowers and trees every day. And they are in an intimate relationship with bodies of water. Oceans and rivers and neighborhood pools.
portrait inspiration notes: judgment. bringing what’s separate, together. wholeness through kintsukuroi (golden repair). mountains (capricorn moon). spiritual connection. fire tea pot underneath them.
sumi (me)
I take forest walks, one of my private daily rituals. There’s a tattoo of Karuna’s name (my first dog), who is also my forever guardian angel. She’s proof of my ability to profoundly love and be changed by death. I know my stuff – my shadows. I have a deep relationship with my inner knowing and ability to manifest new realities. I hold my vibration and radiate it proudly in the world. There are a handful of close authentic connections – friends, partner, kids – through which I experience the richness of life. We mutually nourish each other and they grow beside me as I age. The universe remembers me by the meaning of my name, a good friend.
portrait inspiration notes: queen of wands (reversed). temperance (reversed). learned to listen to her insides through taking the long way around (mountains). inner lushness (green). permeable to life (frog skin). healing sexual shame (hibiscus flower). both sun and moon. animals bring compassionate messages. connected to her higher purpose.