Interview with Constantine Semiramis

Your work blends mythology, fantasy biology, and digital intervention. If you could dream up your own world to live in, what would it be like?

I would live in the deep sea where no light penetrates. I want to have as little senses as possible. I dream of drifting through the currents with no sense of gravity. No senses to sense the environment I am in. Just a translucent iridescent body in the shape of a star.

What is most liberating about navigating your identity in the digital realm?

I think not being limited to physics and direct observation. Not being limited by gravity and the direct needs of my environment allowed me to explore bodily shapes that would have no evolutionary advantage and reasoning in the physical realm. This allows the emotional and internal dimension to evolve more broadly.

How does the concept of hybridity influence your life beyond your art?

I’m extremely gender fluid. So hybridity comes into play a lot when it comes to my expression of self. I also go into periods of heavily identifying with animals. I like daydreaming of different day-to-days as different bodies to escape the human demands of society.

Could you walk us through your process, from idea to finished piece?

Usually, I will get attracted to a specific bodily function of an animal or specific anatomy. I feel the embodiment of the power it would bring for example to have horns or to have an elongated hydrodynamic head. Then I will start sculpting on top of a face cast. When I am happy with the shape I will mould and then cast in silicone. Finally, I paint and perform it. For my sculptures it's a very similar process.

Can art heal, or does it simply offer a place to express the wounds?

I find the alchemy that happens when you bring an emotional charge into a physical object to be extremely cathartic. In my case, it definitely was healing. I would not have been able to transition otherwise.

In your personal journey, where does Constantine end and Anthromorph begin?

Constantine did not exist in the beginning because I was pushed into heavy dissociation in my upbringing. As an adult, I was a shell of a self. Anthromorph became the vehicle and fertilizer for Constantine to grow. Like a pregnancy or mitosis, after years of expressing self-thought Anthromorph and finding out where my interests and instincts lie, a split happened after I had my facial feminization surgery, with the help of the anthro supporters who supported my Gofundme. After my main source of dysphoria had left me I was able to go into a different adventure of understanding who Constantine is as its own entity.

Your work often explores the grotesque, the uncanny, and the in-between. What’s the appeal of those themes for you?

I think as a queer child you internalize so much monstrosity. What you are makes people repulsed. You see images on TV of men puking in the sight of trans women. This teaches you who you are, and how you will be seen if you dare to express your instincts. It teaches you how to see yourself.

Nature on the other hand offers you freedom. In nature, you are just another body moving. Altering my form was an attempt to beautify my monstrosity with elements I found beautiful outside of humanness. An angel would say be not afraid before showing itself. What is monstrous can often be pure, it’s all in the eye of the viewer.

What does the future hold for Anthromorph?

I’m currently doing a digital anthropology masters thanks to a scholarship I received. I’m excited to delve more into theory and would love to write and lecture more. My art is more of a therapy companion I take with me [throughout] my life. I’m keen to make work that exists outside my body and more physical performances. Social media does not inspire me anymore so I try to move away from existing there even though the formula might work. I also really want to progress my transition by completing my SRS and publishing the Anthromorph storybook.