"Putting On A Second Skin"- A Conversation With Mattie Kennedy
I first came across Mattie's films when I was working at Carousel in Brighton. I joined just before Oska Bright Film Festival 2017 was about to take place and was looking through the selection of films that we were going to be showing that year. Mattie's film 'Just Me' stood out as one I was excited about - it was amazing to see a queer, learning disabled artist speaking so frankly about themselves. Mattie came down to Brighton from Glasgow for the festival and I was lucky enough to meet them. We clicked right away and stayed in touch through work and also via Instagram.
They came back to Brighton for Oska Bright 2019 where two of their short films were shown - 'Versions' and 'Enid and Valerie' - an animation I had the pleasure of working alongside Mattie on. Mattie's work always intrigues me - I love the DIY, queer nature of it and feel like it really resonates.
Mattie has great taste in music and books and is an all round very cool person. I wanted to put Mattie in touch with Roger as I felt they would have a lot in common to talk about, which I think shines through in the interview below - so enjoy...
Rosie Sutton-Blackwell, 15/6/2022
Roger- Hello Mattie. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. I recently read your chapbook “Library Of A Solitary Hag & Other Narratives” and it was fantastic. I found it equal parts sensitive, gooey, isolating and horrifying. I appreciate the nods to cut up techniques and underground film. What prompted you to write “Library Of A Solitary Hag”?
Mattie- Thank you so much for the praise of the pamphlet! I first began writing “LOASH” nearly three years ago, just before COVID-19 arrived - then the pandemic stopped the whole world in its tracks. I was in a bit of a tailspin, as my other projects ground to a halt. Growing bored and restless, I just decided to resume working on the project. Editing and proofreading constantly is probably the reason why it took so long to finish. I’m very happy though with the 13 vignettes that are featured in it.
I knew in the beginning it was going to be a project for myself only. I didn’t want to be hindered by thoughts of a target audience or expectation factor, so I said to myself “I’m just going to write what I want to write”. From then on there was no pressure and I had a ‘nothing to lose, nothing to gain’ type of mentality when writing it. I think it helped me pretty well!
I’m quite a voracious reader, so reading books in general was a massive influence within my writing process. Books that I mentioned in the pamphlet were: A Scarcity of Love by Anna Kavan, Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys, Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner and The Lady and the Little Fox Fur by Violette Leduc. Women of the Surrealist art movement such as Dorothea Tanning, Leonora Carrington and artist Cindy Sherman (and her only feature film ‘Office Killer’) were massive influences too.
I wanted to have grotesque, textural and surreal tones to the writing, I didn’t want the writing to be sweet or twee. I also wanted to create a character - a hag who just wants to read books, a cultured recluse who goes through a series of real and dreamlike sequences. The majority of the vignettes I wrote have bookish mentions or themes but there are a few that don’t.
Roger- When I get an ecstatic charge out of reading someone’s work (fiction or otherwise), I find myself digging into the writers’ background and philosophies and it can have a profound effect on me. I then take on as it was my own. It could enter through my emotions, my dress, my speech, the way in which my body moves, the places I frequent, what music I’m listening to, how I sit in a chair, and so on. Like a character, but in the moment it seems like a natural progression into the next phase of life. I’ve had pivotal experiences where I was truly awakened by a piece of writing, music, film or visual art and I felt myself morph into another realm. Sometimes quickly, sometimes over a period of years. Other experiences find themselves stretching out over a lifetime. But there have also been instances when the experience could be a mere escape route from reality, like I just needed a break from the routine or way of living that I felt needed to get shook. Or it could be both? Do you have this experience and does it bleed through your writing?
Mattie- Personally my exposure to culture whether it be music, film or literature, for me is more of an absorption of cultural references that have had an impact on me. I view my brain as a sponge where it soaks up so many fragments or snippets of things, like a small scene from a film, a particular word from a page of a novel or taking inspiration from a painting. You mentioned earlier on cut up techniques, which did allow me a very brief experience of writing in a different style.
The creation of the main character for LOASH was in a sense, my own escape route from reality. The main character in question is a hag from a fictional place called Haldnag (an anagram of Hagland), where they seem to be living in a cave with other hags. They then come crashing down towards Brighton, where they’re taken in by a 52 year-old Irish librarian. The librarian takes on the role of caretaker and mentor.
It’s strangely liberating to have channeled this character through writing, it’s like wearing a disguise, putting on a second skin. The main character’s identity as mutant hag with a desire to access literature is autobiographical in some way, books will always have a special place in my life as a person. I remember my mum telling me that when I was born doctors told her I wouldn’t be able to read or write, basically I'd be of no use in the world. My mum didn’t take too kindly to these assumptions and squashed them, then and there. I feel that altogether the story of LOASH is equal parts reality, equal parts myth. I'm shifting this character from a place of myth into a place of reality.
Mattie- I think my interest in the occult comes back again to literature and films, if I’m being honest that’s probably where it ends too.
Whilst in the early writing stages of LOASH, I remember doing some research on occult novels written by women. It was during this research that I came across the novels of Dion Fortune and Ithell Colquhoun. I’ve read more of Colquhoun than I have of Fortune, Colquhoun’s debut novel Goose of Hermogenes (1961), I definitely recommend folks read. The book concerns a young woman, visiting her mysterious uncle on a small island who seems to work with black magic. Colquhoun’s novel is gothic with an alchemical and surreal lure to it. I also recommend Dr Amy Hale’s biography on Ithell titled - Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of The Fern Loved Gully (2020), which is great!
Dion Fortune’s novel Moon Magic (1956) is the only book of hers I’ve read so far, I’ve got a lovely 70’s paperback re-issued by Star Books. The novel itself has Egyptian, esoteric and occult references, it features the magical presence of main character Lilith Le Fey, a priestess who is seeking to establish an Isis cult. Fortune’s writing style is pretty unique!
I do have an Oracle deck that I use at home, the deck itself runs off the theme of ‘Literary Witches’, which is probably the perfect deck for me. I’m still trying to get the hang of intuition and meaning behind the cards, that being said it’s still a work in progress. I think Green, Herbal and Kitchen Witchcraft is pretty interesting, growing and using herbs to create a meal, syrups or salves, is a form of magic and a craft in itself. Witchcraft for me, is something that was born out of genuine curiosity, it’s not something that takes total precedence in my personal life. I also don’t have the commitment or time to dedicate myself to a specific craft, I think it’s a journey or path that involves a certain level of concentration and energy.
Roger- What have you been reading lately? I started out the year with big reading aspirations but have slowed down drastically due to other projects (the blog and visual art). I'm hoping to get back in my groove, find a balance. Does your reading come in waves or have you always read a lot?
Mattie- I recently just finished off John Waters debut novel Liarmouth: A Feel Bad Romance, which reads just like Waters cult films from the 70’s, filth induced debauchery to it’s core! Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda, a brilliant debut novel about an aspiring artist named Lydia, who also happens to be a vampire. I love how Kohda explores the vampire trope through hunger, it’s definitely different from other vampire novels from the likes of Anne Rice and Stephanie Meyer.
Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid, which is one of my favourite reads of the year. Lucy is a young woman from the West Indies, who goes to America to work as an au pair for a wealthy family. She also contends with her unresolved feelings about her mother, homesickness and exploring her own sexuality. I really like how rebellious Lucy is, her refusal of respectability, she doesn’t give two hoots what people think of her. My paperback edition has a painting by Paul Gaugin on the cover, it’s a rather interesting coincidence, considering that one of the characters in the book is named Paul.
For me personally when it comes to reading, my mood plays a big part in how much or how little I read. I do read loads, but there will be the odd dry spell, where I just can’t mentally concentrate on reading.
Roger- Do you listen to much music? How much does music influence your writing or filmmaking?
Mattie- I listen to music a lot, usually when I’m just needing a break from reality in general. It’s hard to describe my listening habits, as they change constantly. I’ve been listening to lot a music from Fatima Al Qadiri, particularly her album Medieval Femme, Press Color by Lizzy Mercier Descloux, a really good album from an icon of the No Wave scene in New York, also Desertshore by Nico because it’s such a classic album!
Music has had an influence in my filmmaking for sure, my third short film Versions (2015) had music by American musician Teaadora featured in it. Versions is a stop-motion animated film, made up of collage silhouettes cut from all sorts of different references, scanned from an old printer I had, it’s quite a trippy film! I realised that once I had got all the visuals laid down, that there was something sorely missing and it was music. Even before I got into filmmaking I had been a big fan of Teaadora’s music. One day I sent them a message on Facebook, asking permission if I could use their music for my film. Teaadora then very kindly sent me an mp3 file of an unreleased song of theirs, which went beautifully with the visuals of the film. Versions was the first film in which I collaborated with another artist. Teaadora's spirit of generosity really touched me personally, not just as a fan of their work, but as an artist with very little resources, just trying to put my art out into the world.
Roger- Can you tell us a bit about the films you've made? How did you get your start with film? Do you have any films currently in the works?
Well altogether I've made five short films so far: What is Femme Anyway? (2013), Just Me (2013), Versions (2015), Enid & Valerie (2018) and Not Mythmakers (2022).
What is Femme Anyway? and Just Me were the first short films I had ever made, both films explore identity from a personal perspective. What is Femme Anyway, my first short film, explores what femme identity means to me by questioning it in front of my mum’s vanity mirror, whilst putting on make up. The film also serves as an open dialogue with myself in which I also question my gender expression.
Just Me my second short film, explores the connections of my identities as a queer person and a person with a learning disability. The film consists of me placing labels on my face in front of the camera, these labels have words on them like ‘gay’, ‘learning difficulties’, ‘crossdresser and other words. Whilst putting these labels on my face, my voice is reading out narrative in the background, the narrative has a direct connection to the labels. Both films specifically deal in the context of queerness and disability, they also have this sense of vulnerability to them, where I completely open myself up in a tender way.
Versions, my third film which i’ve given a mention in the previous question, I consider to be my breakthrough film. My first two shorts were live action films, for this particular film I wanted a change of direction by making an animated film. The film was made at film workshops for learning disabled filmmakers at Project Ability, a learning disability arts organisation based here in Glasgow. Sadly the workshops don’t exist anymore due to funding being cut, but I’m glad that the film exists because of those workshops.
Enid & Valerie, my fourth film, is an animated short about Valerie, a lone spinster who dreams about meeting a witch named Enid, where they drink tea together whilst chanting in unison ‘she is me, i am her’ with each other, shape shifting identities with one another. The film was made in collaboration with illustrator Vitoria Bastos, who did amazing work on designing and preparing collaged backgrounds and creating 2-D puppets of the characters, just bringing everything to life with her artistry and creativity, not to mention her animation skills were great too, it was fun to listen and observe her creative processes. I was in London for two days with my mum whilst the film was being shot, Lizzie Banks and myself did voice overs for both characters too.
Not Mythmakers, my fifth film which was made earlier this year, looks into the ‘Matthew & Matthew’ archives. Within the film I explore archival materials such as photographs, posters, collage designs etc, I’m creating a rare dialogue in which a queer learning disability archive is actively being made into history. This film conveys a very clear statement, that I will not allow the history that I & filmmaker Matthew Hellett have created to be mythologized. That Matthew and myself are positioning ourselves as historymakers, not mythmakers, refusing to be a part of the myth making process. The film was made with the help of Lizzie Banks, Jenna Allsopp, Carousel and University of Brighton.’
I had never been to art or film school, I got my start with film through an alternative route. I had not long finished college and had about £100 left of my student loan, I bought myself a tiny camcorder for £21 from Toys ‘R’ Us. It was used to make my first two shorts, my twin brother Andrew was on hand to do the camerawork. The camcorder is now housed away in my archive, my mum convinced me to keep it and I'm glad I did. Its hot pink plastic exterior, a reminder of my origin stories as a filmmaker. I don't have any films in the works at this moment in time, I'm doing other projects and catching up with lots of reading instead.
Roger- Mattie, any closing remarks?
Mattie- Thank you for the interview Roger, I enjoyed answering your questions. I want to give big shoutouts to Oska Bright Film Festival, the UK’s only learning disability film festival for screening my films and Carousel, a learning disability arts organisation based in Brighton for supporting my work as an artist.
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