Table of Contents

Art workshop table (left), display shelves (right).
Altercation is a “life artist” (a term coined by a friend of hers) whose work encompasses dance, art and healing. She’s a touring performer with Big Freedia and
teaches private classes on how to dance to New Orleans bounce music. Recently, Altercation and Freedia began a lecture series covering topics including gender
identity, race relations and class, and using dance as a tool to understand where people are coming from. She lives in New Orleans.
I wanted to have a lot of light and mirrors and floor space. In my space right now I have a big work table and a lot of shelves on the walls. I dance and I do healing work
with rocks and crystals, so I wanted to have as much floor space as possible for stretching and dancing and still have lots of storage space for my art and rocks. You know
how in old libraries they have those ladders that can run along the wall? I put those in too, so there could be shelves that run all the way up to the ceiling and can still be
accessible. I decorated the space mostly with art and crystals. I do mobiles and make shadow boxes in glass jars with found objects and nail polish.
It’s a small space, so we had talked about having a Murphy bed that can be pulled down from the wall and then put away. And I had to have a clawfoot tub—wherever
I’m living I’ve got to be able to take a bath.
See a portfolio of Altercation's art in the interactive version of this issue at scionav.com/scionmagazine20