Ihooq
ihooq works haphazardly, spontaneously - site-specific, place-based and plant-based actions. i participated in a workshop recently where i was led into a state that mimics earth, earth is a typo but i want to leave it in, because it is not wrong. But the actual state was that of death, and of becoming. i was led to imagine a new form, a new being, or persona - and i became a burst of yellow and blue atoms, or pixels, pollen in the wind leading me to the ocean and the beach. it took me some time to realise i was was dysphoric, it was not that i hated my body or did not identify with my gender - but that i did not, do not, recognise myself, and did not, and do not want to be contoured, restricted. i felt my limits, but sometimes my arms are beyond me, while i write this, they are at my sides, swimming in the air, pulling me upwards. i want to be that air, float, become atoms and pixels, everything - not nothing. ihooq grounds me, not in my body, but in my hair. it situates me in a historical web, womxn who were hunted for their appearance that they had no control over, no say in. amplified by their solitary lifestyles.
places to put things, ihooq plants seeds.
ihooq was given a red kuri squash, and when they went to clean out the squash’s insides to make some yummy soup, they noticed the seeds had sprouted. they simply could not be roasted. so ihooq set them aside for a couple of days, keeping them moist, and eventually set off on a quest. the seeds had to be planted, they had to be in the park, and they had to be done on the night before halloween.
ihooq hopes they will grow on mount royal and surprise squash will take over the plateau. but ihooq knows the soil on the island of montreal is sick, and the likelihood of this happening is very slim.
so each seed was planted, carefully, ritually. each casting a spell of hope. hope that they would grow, hope for the surprise squash, hope for the city and the environment and the people that lived here, and live here still.
About ihooq
LHOOQ, the mona lisa with facial hair. nothing more, nothing less. simple and powerful. the name is something i immediately connected to as a bilingual queb. pronouncing these letters in english means nothing - elle-ayche-oh-oh-cue. but in french, elle-a-chaud-au-cul. she has a hot ass (she is hot in the ass) - referring to the mona lisa as an object of lust, or a woman filled with anger, with a fire pushing forth her natural power (as i’d like to think… but i have a feeling it’s typically interpreted as the latter.) naturally i took it open myself to objectify men/everyone, in my own name - ihooq - y-a-chaud-au-cul. my own pronunciation of this is smooth and quick, but i tend to favour “ihooq” (e-hook) as a word. with these ideas i pushed forth a new persona, a visual representation of this powerful entity, with a fire under their ass. ihooq is, like a wookie, quite hairy.
the colour of my hair is one i could never identify, red, orange or ginger do no justice. each label has a derogatory stereotype. i’ve tried to recreate the perfect colour several times, and it is near impossible. womxn with this hair colour have been persecuted as witches, torchered, burned alive or objectified as mythological goddesses throughout history. my hair is the colour of fire, and it does define me.
