Elysia Crampton

Do our lives need to be extraordinary to matter? Or to make sense? As trans we could say that all of our lives are extraordinary, in a positive way, and all are deserving of love, support, attention. For all that the exceptional life – exceptional even within trans experiences – makes the most headlines, gets the most traction in media features, and here’s one trans life which is surely exceptional. Elysia Crampton Trans – check Identifies as a Bolivian native Aymaran – check Oppressed childhood – check Brought up in poverty in Southern California - check Exposed to Bolivian native music and instruments in childhood – check And Bolivia was home to the Mariposas – queer, trans and celebrated in rituals From these life-opportunities comes the music Elysia produces. It sounds like all of your favourite sounds put through a Magimix, loved and familiar but creatively mistreated. We could say that trans lives and art are suspended in a limbo of the imagination, and in Bolivia that limbo is a space called taypi. If what happens “between” matters to all trans then let Elysia Crampton offer you a way into that space.