TKC BREAKING AND EXCLUSIVE NEWS!!! SPECIAL INTERVIEW: KANSAS CITY ARTIST JESSICA BORUSKY REVEALS A BIT OF THE MOTIVATION BEHIND HER INTENSE WORK!!!

At only 26 years-old, performance artist Jessica Borusky has taken the Kansas City art world by storm.

Ms. Borusky is currently an Artist In Residence at the Charlotte Street Foundation and we'll get to her resume in just a bit but let's review our first encounter with her work . . .

Jessica Borusky burst on to the Kansas City art scene by taking aim at Google Fiber, local BBQ culture and promotional/civic newspeak in her "Let's Do This" video.

She followed up with an even more provocative performance art video piece that took her theme to a new level.

And here's why we wanted to talk to her . . .

Ms. Borusky's work is thought provoking and challenges the viewer's perceptions in a way that's both unsettling and invigorating.

A brief chat with Jessica Borusky reveals that her work has come as a product of her exceptional schooling and tumultuous personal life. She is a graduate of Tufts University. Jessica also earned the position of instructor and graduate teaching fellow at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Most impressively, she was part of the women's and gender studies consortium at MIT. In Kansas City, Jessica teaches yoga and Pilates in addition to her work at Charlotte Street.

During a brief interview a couple of weeks ago, Jessica started the conversation by revealing far too much about herself. Ten minutes into the conversation I learned that she was formerly part of a polyamorus relationship and one of her former lovers had recently died of a heroin overdose.

We started with a question about her take on the art world in Kansas City and she gave the typical yearbook answer about the "supportive community" and the "up and coming digital and artistic scene that's on a verge of a breakthrough . . ." But I noticed a bit more of a candid reply when I asked her about how the Kansas City art world reacts to her.

"I hear the word 'intense' an awful lot," Ms. Borusky said.

"But that's okay," Jessica Borusky continued. "I get the feeling that Kansas City is a place that puts a great deal of emphasis on personal relationships and my colleagues have been very generous by introducing me to a lot of people in town."

For a bit we talked about the landscape of the area, Jessica's new found appreciation of driving and even local hotspots.

But more than anything, it's the motivation, intent and inspiration for Jessica's work that intrigues.

Jessica Borusky explains her performance art by examining the topic of persona vs. character:

"Persona is this really lovely concept because it's terrifying. You're one way at your job, right now with me or in textual form on the Internet. All of which are you. The concept of persona is distilled, shifted and presentations of a self that you have at your core - All of which is bullshit and at the same time completely authentic. The reason why I never refer . . . And you can look back at this . . . There are no names to any of these reprsentations of self. They are not characters, they are personae. And part of the persona is not just that that there is a different persona per video but that the persona shifts within the context of the video. When I use a single phrase or repetition to explore a myriad of emotion. I know where I go in my work, where I cut off, where I don't push myself as hard within the context of creating a piece. But at the end of the day it's up to the viewer to want to discern, to want to understand for themselves and explore what part of the narrative they think is real or not."

I tell her that leaves a lot of room to be misinterpreted. She says there's no such thing but then offers another thought:

"It's not a dichotomy, it's a continuous line. There's a conversation about my work that is closer to my intentions but these videos . . . There's a reason why the work is presented in this manner. So viewers can decide for themselves."

One last remark on different interpretations of her art from the internet free for all that is TKC:

"For the asshole who said that "I have issues. He still watched my work and he still probably masturbated to it. The worst thing is mediocrity. That's just the worst. No one has ever said "meh" to anything I make."

However during the conversation Jessica Borusky reveals that she's a survivor of rape and I not only lose my train of thought but stumble to make an apology that was probably more akin to something you'd say to a losing football team.

Jessica Borusky shares her insight on how sexual assault has shaped her artistic work:

"It's taken me a long time to even use that language but through my work I've been able to come to terms with it . . . At first, I wasn't able to access that language in talking about my work . . . Coming to terms with this content in my life. It goes to the effect of: (I was a) rape survivor when I was very young to I was raped just last year. Understand the statistics are there, I'm not the only person. When I make this work. It's my narrative but it's not mine."

The rest of the conversation followed a more traditional path and it's clear that Ms. Borusky has more amazing work planned for her time in Kansas City which should last about two years. Talking with this young artist it was clear that she is probably one of the most brilliant people I've spoken with during the course of this blog. Her intellect, perspective and eloquence are at an elite level that I've only heard from some of the most talented elected officials, a top CEO and other operatives we've been lucky enough to interview.

Interestingly, Jessica Borusky is the only person who has ever corrected my interview technique and told me to just ask my questions without so much preamble.

Accordingly, we look forward to what Ms. Borusky has in store and we're happy to put the Kansas City art world on notice and reveal one of the most INTENSE new voices performing some of the most GROUNDBREAKING work this town has seen in quite some time.