Lypsinka Lets Loose

With her wild, red locks of hair, colored eyelids, and glistening ruby lipstick, Lypsinka is feverish and imposing. She deserves our undivided attention. Conceptualized in the 1980s, American drag artist and writer John Epperson’s Lypsinka personifies the beauty and troubles of celebrity and glamor. Emerging from New York hotspots like the Pyramid Club, she has appeared in several off-Broadway productions and even served muse to Thierry Mugler. On screen, in the new eponymous short film directed by Chloë Sevigny and produced by The New Group Off Stage, Epperson lip-syncs to meticulously edited sound collages of legendary 20th-century female performers. 

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Captured on vintage video cameras over the course of three days by cinematographer and video artist Jennifer Juniper Stratford, the movie includes nuanced interior monologues, a deep dive into Lypsinka’s wacky and multilayered subconscious, and recurrent imagery of opening doors and ringing telephones that simultaneously spark anxiety and curiosity. Divided between a confessional narrative and performance, Lypsinka is either lip-syncing to 1965 recordings of Judy Garland lamenting her strained attempts at writing an autobiography, or she is channeling Joan Crawford reciting entertaining bits from her 1971 memoir, My Way of Life. Sparkly musical numbers performed against the backdrop of recordings of Mimi Hines and Ethel Merman in between serve as quirky interludes.

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As Lypsinka gradually lets loose over the course of the film, it becomes abundantly clear her performance isn’t entirely molded by borrowed behavior. Challenging unrealistic expectations imposed by society—a constant struggle between facing emotions or neatly burying them– the short film captures the love and hatred wrapped up in being a star and a woman. Lypsinka being a drag artist adds nuance and complexity and magnifies the contrived aspect of both. Fast-paced, humorous, and bittersweet, Lypsinka is a cinematic quilt of emotions, with colorful zippers, patches of glitter, and decay.

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Lypsinka: Toxic Femininity is streaming online through February 16, 2024.