New York City is made up of its residents just as much as the people who pass through the city for work, pleasure, or both. Yuki knows both. As a dominatrix and performance artist, she travels to New York for clients who make the city her favorite to work in.
We talked to the mother of the House of Vivienne Westwood about her many creative roles in life, how her heritage fuels her art, and what keeps her grounded while she's hustling.
✩ What borough are you in, and what tethers you to your neighborhood?
I’m actually based in LA! But I am frequently in NYC for work, typically staying in either Bed Stuy or Sunnyside, Queens.
✩ If you were one of the train lines, which one would you be and why?
Probably the 7 because you can go into the city and find every kind of food along that line.
✩ What’s your bodega deli order?
Some kinda spinach salad w/ a balsamic dressing and like, cranberries and walnuts. You know.
✩ How would you describe the artistic work that you do, and how did you get into it?
I’ve gone through so many transitions in my life as an “artist”; from eisaa (エイサー) player, martial artist, polyglot, drag queen, makeup artist, voguer, stripper, house mother, and dominatrix. Simply put, I’m an amazing transsexual.
✩ What is your cultural background, and how does it shape your art, if at all?
I’m a Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian), Ryukyuan (Okinawan), and Japanese transsexual who grew up in The Kingdom of Hawai‘i. I would say that my upbringing shaped and influenced so much of what I’ve done and continue to do.
✩ What’s your relationship to hustling? How do you not get lost?
I’m a hustler, no doubt. For me, it’s imperative to have a core group of sisters to help ground you and remind you of the entire reason you’re hustling in the first place; I need people around me whose humanity I can trust in.
✩ New York City is such a transient transplant town where people come from all over the world, but what’s your relationship to America overall?
America is my colonizer.
✩ The city can be considered a “doll’s paradise,” where not only trans femmes can thrive in their personhood, but also in term of career, from fashion, to modeling, nightlife, etc. How true has that notion been for you, in your experience of working in the City?
As a dominatrix, NYC is hands down my favorite city to work in. I’ll keep it at that.
✩ What’s your ideal get-ready routine for a night out?
3 hour nap, shower, sheet mask, skincare, makeup, hair, eat a salad, brush teeth, get dressed, et allons-y.
✩ How do you go about finding community?
I find most of my community through my sisters, ballroom, or through other sex workers.
