Today we’d like to introduce you to Carla X
Can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. You can include as little or as much detail as you’d like?
To really get into the how, its important to me to touch back to the very beginning because without these formative years I certainly wouldn’t be who I am today. I was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. From the beginning I had a very nonconventional childhood. Growing up in a Buddhist household in a third world country certainly had its share of interesting and impactful moments. At a young age my parents were already certain that I would become some form of artist, despite my interest in veterinary work and love for animals it was clear that I would always have my hands in some sort of artistic project. Painting, drawing, sculpting, sewing, you name it, by the time I was four I could perfectly thread a needle. It was ultimately my baba (grandmother on my dads’ side) that taught me how to be an artist. She would watch and care for me while my parents were hard at work trying to provide for me and my older brother. At that time, we did not really have money for fancy toys and a lot of my things were passed down to me from older cousins but simple art supplies where easy to acquire.
In 2001 my Mother brought me to the United States to reunite with my Father and Brother who had already been here a year trying to get a foot on the ground before we joined them in search of the American dream. We left our family and pets with little to nothing and landed in Miami, where we lived for the first year until moving to Fort Lauderdale. They say artists are born from hardships and well, all the troubles and hardships that came with leaving behind everything you knew at that age were certainly a shock to the system. Through it all I had supportive parents who for the most part allowed me to be my weird self even though they didn’t totally understand the cultural and psychological changes I was going through. Regardless, they nourished my creative side, always providing for me despite our limited means.
In my early teens I became inspired by the anime and manga comics that I loved, I began making outfits to bring those worlds to life, back before I had any idea what cosplay was. From there my inherent need for self-expression kept growing, it was always important for me to escape the mundane world and live my life as a manifestation of my own reality, turning myself into living canvas through wearable art, fashion, and makeup artistry was something that just felt natural.
In my early teens I was exposed to the South Florida EDM scene where I spent a lot of my weekends leaving my heart on the dancefloor and making friends. Then around the time I turned 17 I was asked to become creative director for the EMA Angels, a local GoGo team for one of the prominent local entertainment companies at the time. My first gig was an event called Masquerave IV, held at what was Club X-IT in Hollywood Florida. Here is where my flame and passion for the performing arts really started to ignite. Until this moment this project was merely a challenge that appeared to be fun, I did not realize how much of an impact being on stage, creating costuming for an event, and being part of the overall production would have on me. This was the start of my career as a performer.
I grew to create a name for myself as a professional, becoming known for my unique dance style full of energy and edge, but also my ability to be versatile in terms of working with corporate and alternative events. In the 8 years of my career that I spent living in Florida I was fortunate enough to work in Miami’s hottest clubs, WMC, and Art Basel shows. Alongside some of the best entertainment companies around and some of the biggest alternative lifestyle events. Opportunities took me to places like Dragon Con in Atlanta all the way to private events at the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas. At these productions I worked alongside incredible and inspiring people that pushed me to want to be better, dream bigger, and constantly level up my skills and acts in every aspect possible.
I knew that in my obsession with details, I wanted to bring to life the perfect intersection of fashion design, theatrical makeup, and performance art in each of my acts. Making truly interstellar experiences that in a way transcend the audience to a world of my design. Creating moments in time where the audience can fully immerse themselves in the spectacle surrounding them.
In June 2017 I moved to Austin Texas, where I became further enthralled and finally immersed in circus arts. I think the most amount of growth I had as a creative came from this move. I finally had access to teachers and tools to dream bigger. Starting contortion and aerial training, further pursuing and practicing flow arts, burlesque, and many other new avenues of immersive entertainment.
Last year I started bringing to life a project I have been dreaming of for quite some time. The manifestation of all my hard work, Intergalactic Media. Intergalactic Media is an Austin based circus, arts, and entertainment company creating interactive and immersive experiences. Founded with the goal of providing premium bespoke entertainment specializing in the integrate of high art and event art. Intergalactic Media specializes in elaborately costumed characters and creating immersive experiences that transcend your event to something between the realms of real and otherworldly. I had hopes of launching officially in 2020 but the world has other plans as *gestures vaguely at everything* you know…
We are hoping to offer innovative solutions in the future for how our art can be experienced, please await our transmission!
Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I don’t think most people get smooth roads in life; I am no different. Life is never without its fair share of obstacles. Maybe I had more than some, maybe I had less. I hate to sit and dwell, but I also do think its noteworthy to acknowledge some of the hardships that shape us and not to disillusion readers on the realities of working gig to gig and never having holidays off, though those are only occupational and there is plenty more complex hardship in each individual human experience that ultimately affect your art, your work, and just generally how you do things. I think one of the first real struggles for me was finding a sense of community in which where to grow. There had always felt like there was a disconnect between me and the average person. It is likely at least partially because from a young age I experienced the alienation of having everything you know whisked away and being uprooted into a strange country where everyone speaks a language you don’t understand and discriminates against you for not sounding or looking like everyone else. In my teens I again had this sense of disconnect in attempting to fit societies standards and measurements of success it wasn’t until I let go of the idea that I needed to fit a certain mold that I really started to be able to align my artistic vision of what I wanted to create and who I wanted to be. I could go on to talk about personal failures and my disappointment or disillusionment that created turmoil in my path. The days, nights, and years that I held myself back thinking I wasn’t good enough, but I don’t feel it’s necessary to give those things so much power in this narrative, ultimately my purpose is to inspire a more creative world, not sow seeds of doubt. If you want it hard enough, if you believe in yourself above any intrusive negative thoughts that come to mind, your power becomes will, and where there is power of will, there is manifestation.
We’d love to learn more about your work. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others?
I am CEO and creative director of Intergalactic Media. Intergalactic media is an Austin based circus, arts, and entertainment company creating interactive and immersive experiences. Founded in 2019 with the goal of providing premium bespoke entertainment specializing in the integrate of high art and event art. Intergalactic Media specializes in elaborately costumed characters and creating immersive experiences that transcend your event to something between the realms of real and otherworldly.
While my specialty is curating visually extravagant story telling performances, the skills I have trained in and apply span quite a broad range of creative fields.
I am a multidisciplinary circus and performance artist, best described as a sort of “creative tour de force”. While I originally started as a freestyle GoGo dancer and performance artist, I always had a fascination with circus arts. Once moving to Austin Texas, I finally had access to the training facilities and instructors necessary to start my journey.
Shout out to Lache Movement Co and Sky Candy, my homes away from home before the great pause, where I found my passion for circus arts thanks to the welcoming community of incredibly talented professionals. A few very dedicated years after my introduction to the world of circus arts, I am proud to say I am successfully folding in half and performing high flying feats, having dedicated my training to contortion and aerialist skills. As far as my aerial circus skills, I am I am a multi apparatus aerialist performing on aerial hoop and body loops, two apparatuses that have brought me so much strength, confidence, and made stilt walking feel like a piece of cake when it comes to amazing heights. I am especially proud of my progress in contortion, having begun training with Otgo Waller since last March, which has really helped me level up my skills.
I work to put technology integrated tightly with my art, and that’s reflected everywhere from my props to my collaborations. I seek out high end LED equipment to help differentiate myself and my company from the more basic equipment commonly available.
One of the biggest constants in the past 2 years has been my work with ArcAttack. My work with them, unsurprisingly, has been multidisciplinary. The most exciting project, far and away, was working with them, Anouk Wipprecht, and Destiny Augustine to redesign and fabricate a Faraday suit utilizing modern concepts based on next generation spacesuit designs. I work with them on a project-to-project basis. From my costuming to my theatrical makeup, I help them bring their production quality to the next level, and act as their resident lightning conductor and assist with the backstage tours. It’s not just performance work with them though, since on tour I conduct PA duties, like assembly and disassembly of ArcAttack’s custom tesla coils.
My work is not just about technology though, as I fully embrace the more primal side and sensual sides of art, in the form of flow arts and neo burlesque. In this exploration of movement art, I have been working with several props. These include fire breathing torches, fire fans, fabric dragon poi (Which have been a huge hit on my TikTok!), and I am excited to debut a new dragon staff act soon!
As far as neo burlesque, I am trying to diversify what burlesque can be by incorporating elements of my other skills into each act to create new and unique experiences. I am looking to tell immersive character driven performances. This is where my costume design and stage makeup skills really help differentiate me (Surprise, I even have a cosmetology license). Most, if not all, of my costumes are unique and handmade, if not by me and my sewing machine than by an artist I respect, and probably know. With Intergalactic Media, I want to take this to the next level, driven immersive character and art driven events. I want to party at events as obsessed with the details as I am about my characters…so be the change you want to see in the world, right?
Finally on my list of tricks, what is a circus performer without a few sideshow skills? From human blockhead to my cutting-edge grinder act, there is not much I don’t do.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memory is less about one moment in time or story but more of a nostalgic collection of experiences, moments, smells, and other sense that made up my childhood living in Uruguay. When I think back its these things that come to mind.
The smell of burning wood on la parrilla on a Sunday afternoon with the laughter and loud voices of family and neighbors. A tradition of eating torta fritas on a rainy day and listening to music playing loudly in the distance. The simultaneous chaos of run-down streets and the stillness of el barrio as I watched it all go by from my grandparents’ front yard and breakfast of fresh eggs from their chicken coup. All these little things that felt exactly right and at home. I spent a lot of my time outdoors and with animals, growing up having four dogs one of which my parents found as a puppy when I myself was less than one year old. There was a lot of magic being a child in the open world at that time. A much different pace of life than the American upbringing I came to have.
At a young age I spent a lot of time traveling with my parents from Brazil to Argentina when they worked as travel agents. I got to experience awe awakening moments at carnivals and art fairs that helped perpetuate my passion for crafts and performing arts.
I think the memories I find most important to me are of a time when my whole family was together, and so it is not about one particular moment but of the many that remind me who I am.
Contact Info:
- Email: carlaxofficial@gmail.com
- Website: intergalactic.media
- Instagram: instagram.com/carlaxofficial
- Facebook: facebook.com/carlaxofficial
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CarlaXofficial
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@carlaxofficial
Image Credits
Triphammer photo Robert Giordano Design 215 Rusk Photography
