Surka Noelle has been one The House of Red Velvet’s long-standing daughters. She is an opera singer, and performance artist. Today, we ask her about what art she identifies with, and what is integral to her work.

1. What has been your favorite moment while performing in The House of Red Velvet?

Feeling connected to the audience- their essential part in witnessing us, the give and take, the inhale and exhale of expression, to be given and received, the potent display of our duality as humans. To be able to spill my tears onto someone else’s skin, not knowing how either of us will feel in that moment.

2. What is integral to your work as an artist?

Feeling the pull of something that terrifies me. Sometimes, so much so, that I find myself pledging loyalty to the discovery in unfolding the many experiences that led me to this palpable dread. I often delve so deep into the character, I lose sight of myself, and must calculate how long I can live there. These rehearsals allow me to be open to the experience of performance, without coloring it in expectation.

3. What has been a seminal experience?

As a human that has lived many moments in chronic pain, I relish in sharing sensational experiences through a controlled container. This control allows me to feel empowered, to rewrite my stories, and to share the sacred space of healing I have found in power exchange, as well as sadomasochism. It is an unadulterated openness to pain and pleasure, witnessed, showcased, and shared in a way that was before kept private.

4. What art do you most identify with? Who influences you?

Dario Argento
David Lynch
Dali
Frida Khalo
Diane Cluck
Eartha Kitt
Paula Maxa
The book Voluptuous Panic

5. What memorable responses have you had to your work?

A human left our show, crying uncontrollably, not from sadness, but the overwhelm of witnessing their own experience in a raw, relatable way.
A human had an orgasm during our show without touching themselves. An audience member recalling a memory lost, as related to our spectacle, and thus, feeling understood and expressed.

6. Name something you love and why.

I love roses; they are the sigil of my Russian family. Velvet, beautiful, intoxicating, of the earth, dangerous, both soft and prickly, not one without the other.
I love bodily fluids- blood, spit, cum, tears- all proof that we are living breathing beings with the choice to live, die, bleed, drool…
I love to be scared (see above). Fear is the key and treasure map to growth.
I love vibration- sound, music, shocking the system, calming the nerves - it is exquisite to share my love affair with singing, it’s trials and tribulations, the torture and healing of it all.