I grew up with three older siblings in Bavaria, a conservative town in Germany. Though I was not inclined towards Christianity, I was a part of all church activities since it kept my parents happy. It was much later when I became more aware of my sexuality that I got disappointed with the hypocrisy of organised religion and left the church.
Growing up, I was always inclined towards creativity and loved to draw, paint, sew, make crafts. Post school, I moved to Berlin to study Fashion Designing. It was here that I was introduced to the world of drag. Though I enjoyed the attention, it took me 18 months to make drag a part of my life. Drag started as a hobby and I never considered it as money making career. But when I moved to London for an internship, I realised that drag could be a full time career. I started out as a pretty drag queen. However, when I saw the most gorgeous and amazing drag queens In London, I realised that the world didn’t need more of these. I grew up with the image of colonialism, thinking that white, western features were the ultimate image of perfection and that really messed up my mind. For a long time, I believed I wasn’t beautiful. So with my drag, I wanted to create something outside the regular race norms, gender norms and outside people’s comfort zone. That’s when I started dissecting and distorting my face through experimentation and makeup. After-all, life is distorted and not just filled with prettiness and I thought why not talk about it through my act. The reaction was instant. People poured love from across the world but there have also been days when people steal your idea or use your images.
Initially, I didn’t tell my parents but when it became a career, I sent them pictures of me in drag. I told them that I wasn’t trans and was just using this art-form as a creative outlet. They didn’t seem to mind, largely because I was away and it wouldn’t affect them. But I also know they would have been happier if I had a regular job with a regular paycheck.
My stage name is Hungry and it has an interesting story behind it. As a kid, I would get stuck for hours together with projects and would forget to eat. To this day, I get carried away by work. Its only when someone reminds me that I realise that I am very Hungry. So I adopted Hungry as my stage name and it is so open to all kinds of interpretations….. hungry for love, recognition, warmth… you never know!
Growing up, I never had a role model because back then nothing really happened in the queer world but things are changing now. And I hope someday my work inspires someone.
I have visited India twice. I am told that India is warming up to the concept of drag. I just want to tell people that there is a whole new world of queer performers and drag artists waiting to showcase their talent… show them some love, give them some attention.
Johannes Jaruraak / Hungry
