A preview of lesbian filmmaker Charissa King-O'Brien's documentary, The Paper Mirror—which chronicles queer Chicago artist, teacher and disability activist Riva Lehrer's collaboration with lesbian artist/cartoonist Alison Bechdel—was shown at Access Living Dec. 1.
Access Living and Bodies of Work presented the event, entitled "The Raw and the Cooked." Approximately 100 people came to see the documentary and hear Liz Carr—a lesbian stand-up/sit-down comedian and host of a BBC podcast called "Ouch!" made by and for disabled people—perform her stand-up/sit-down comedy act.
Before the documentary was shown, Carrie Sandahl, associate professor and director of the program on disability art, culture and humanities at the University of Illinois at Chicago, talked about the evening's events and introduced King-O'Brien.
King-O'Brien explained the genesis of her short and what the audience would be seeing that evening, including a little bit of information on Bechdel ( who was unable to attend ) and her work.
In the documentary, Lehrer talked about her artistic process and showed off her artwork. Then the film shifts to Bechdel and her work before the two artists converged to collaborate on Lehrer's portrait of Bechdel. The film then takes the viewer through Lehrer's process of creating the portrait, ending with Lehrer unveiling her work to an appreciative Bechdel.
Sandahl then introduced Carr, whose performance included material that reflected Lehrer's portrait of her as well as a little bit of her "Ouch!" show. As Carr—who wore Christmas lights around her neck to mimic the painting Lehrer did of her—performed her set, the pictures of her life that were attached to the lights were shown on the screen behind her. Carr would take a picture off the lights and talk about it, throwing the picture on the floor when she was finished with each story. The audience was in stitches throughout Carr's entire performance of bawdy and bold material, as she poked fun at her disability as well as other taboo topics.
Lehrer, King-O'Brien, Carr and Sandahl took questions from the audience to close out the evening's events.
The program was partially supported by two grants, one from the Illinois Arts council and the other from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events which gave the event a CityArts grant.
For more information about Lehrer and her work visit www.rivalehrer.com . Bechdel's information can be found here dykestowatchoutfor.com . To find out about King-O'Brien's other films visit www.charissafilms.com . To learn more about Carr's stand-up career and podcast go to her official website www.lizcarr.co.uk.
