Kembra is a filmmaker, performance artist, visual artist, Calvin Klein model, professor, rock musician, film actress and all-round good egg.
Probably best known as the painted and fully wigged singer of the voluptuous horror of Karen Black the glam punk shocksters, she is no stranger to causing a 'bit of a stir'. They released three albums in the 90's and their stage shows involve elaborate homemade sets using anything that's available (in keeping with Pfahler's theory of 'Availablism') and mix performance art with transgressive physical acts, it's a meeting of punk attitude and female empowerment. On stage she is flanked by half a dozen look-alikes with semi-naked painted bodies, thigh high black high heel boots, blacked out teeth and massive wigs and they all participate in the fun - like headstands on stage with legs spread wide whilst a dancer smashes raw eggs on her vagina and every now and then a crucifix is popped in there (see below)
Her performance art is certainly no less confronting. Here, for example, is 'The sewing Circle' from 1992
Warning - Graphic content
Kembra is not afraid to make her audience uncomfortable, in fact it's supposed to unsettle, be provocative and make the viewer think. She's fighting for women's rights, religious freedom and the right to just be yourself without being afraid of the consequences. She manages to turn her own frustrations with how society treats women and their bodies into bold and powerful art. It seems her whole life has been about self-expression and breaking taboos.
In recent years she has been doing more and more gallery shows as her notoriety spreads. All of them have been well received, and even if they weren't I don't think she would give a fuck. Pictured right is 'Wall of Vagina.' Kembra said about this piece, " I did the old turkey-baster-with-plain-yogurt as a topping for the wall, and it provoked a complex reaction from the audience who didn't know whether to applaud or vomit."
In 2014, collaborating with artists Anohni, CocoRosie’s Bianca and Sierra and Johanna Constantine, Kembra launched Future Feminism – a 13-day performance festival looking at “13 Tenets of Future Feminism” the group’s political and ethical thoughts on the solutions to global problems.
Over the years she has collaborated with some of the underground art world's finest and modelled for the likes of Calvin Klein, Rick Owens, Marc Jacobs, Mugler and Helmut Lang.
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