Skin Deep meets performance artist, theatre maker, poet and writer Travis Alabanza

Travis Alabanza has a laugh that illuminates the room. The performance artist and writer may negotiate heavy-handed and difficult topics in their work, but there is a certain lightness that they carry with them. Reading about them in mainstream media, it’s easy to pigeonhole Travis: a trans-feminine, queer, angry artist of colour. In truth, who they are as a person is in direct opposition with how their public persona has been represented. Their work may be rooted in trauma but Travis radiates joy, a feeling which is shared in abundance from the minute I meet them for a drink at a nondescript bar in South London.