Step aside, quirky and drab extraterrestrials. Faye Lenore reimagines alien iconography with atypical panache.
Las Vegas, Nevada | @ahubothealien
From the wrinkly alien twink E.T. to the terrifying Xenomorphs of the Alien movies and adorable Marvin the Martian, pop culture’s extraterrestrials never seem to be chic. Artist Faye Lenore is here to correct that. In this photo series, she presents her en vogue alien persona, Ahubo, which doubles as her artist name. With teal skin and a black flipped wig, this high-fashion alien is effortlessly cool in her red dress with matching sunglasses, pearl necklace, and silk headscarf as she smokes cigarettes, snaps Polaroids, and serves looks.
Based in Las Vegas, with Caribbean and French Canadian roots, Lenore has never quite fit in. She writes in her artist statement, “I often felt ‘not enough’ in either Black or white spaces.” When she immigrated to the United States from Montréal, Québec, she experienced an added layer of otherness when she was legally and culturally defined as an “alien.” Drawing on her background in fashion and as a hairstylist, Lenore reclaims the oppressive label of “alien” by creating an unapologetically stylish alien that celebrates the power and joy of being different.
I often joke that if I could, I would dress as this alien every day because that’s how I feel on the inside.
“I imagined the alien as someone trying to blend in, not to hide, because they genuinely admire humanity and want to participate in ordinary human experiences. Fashion became the bridge between the familiar and the otherworldly,” Lenore writes. Lenore meticulously styles Ahubo using vintage-inspired fashion and bold pops of color to give her a distinct personality and an inherent refusal to be hidden.
“I often joke that if I could, I would dress as this alien every day because that’s how I feel on the inside,” Lenore writes. “Creating this character didn’t feel like putting on a costume or performing drag, it felt more like revealing a version of myself that already existed.”
The highly saturated colors create an enticing world for Ahubo’s joyful freedom of expression. By utilizing the label “alien,” ascribed to people as a means of dehumanization and exclusion, and playing with pop-culture iconography to create this character, Lenore challenges the idea that difference is wrong or shameful, and demonstrates the possibilities of self-expression as a means of resistance.
