You’ve seen the wonderful artwork of Arabia Felix, her recreation of the “Laganja Moment” made light of the difficult situation that happened during “Untucked.” But Arabia’s more than just the creative genius behind the cartoons. She’s also a beautiful makeup artist and we’re so grateful she took the time to answer a few questions about her journey thus far.
DQG: When and why did you start doing drag? AF: I started playing dress-up at a very young age, around 10-12. I’ve always been interested in theater, art, and makeup! Not to forget the power of the transformation itself, something about becoming whoever you want to be with makeup is just so empowering! Drag for me is more than an art-form, it’s is a voice of freedom and choice! I live in a place where I’m told what not to wear and how to act.. this is feminine, this is masculine, you know the drill “pink for girls, and blue for boys” well, I hated both as a kid! My favorite color was purple!
DQG: Who are your biggest inspirations?
AF: This is a hard question for me that I get asked a lot and quite honestly every time I have a slightly different response to it.. mainly because there are so many things that inspires me every single day to create more work! There are no certain people! It could be an object, an artist, a friend, a book, etc.. My mind is always processing “how I turn this pen, for example, into art-piece”.
DQG: How did you come up with your drag name?
AF: Arabia Felix is actually a Latin name! Felix means “fortunate, blessed, or happy.” So I guess that makes me Happy Arabia 🙂
DQG: Do you have a drag family?
AF: No
DQG: We’ve seen you talk about your “friends” trying to get you to stop doing your art, do you have any close friends and/or family who really support you?
AF: My family doesn’t know about the drag aspect of my art, we’ll.. they don’t know what drag is in general and I don’t expect them to.. but they do support all my artistic creations even if they’re related to makeup or wigs, at least I don’t have to explain all the dresses and hair that I have in my closet! At this point in my life, I’m surrounding myself only with friends who truly can support me and understand what I do! I’m fortunate to have at least one that I can truly depend on.
DQG: What kind of message do you think you’re sending to people who follow your art?AF: You can do whatever you want anywhere you want, there are no limits..
DQG: Do you have any plans to move from the Middle East to either Europe or the U.S?
AF: Yes I do! I don’t talk a lot about it online just because it’s a very sensitive topic to me personally, and I’m the type of person who likes to keep my plans private until they’re fully achieved.
AF: I’ve been a huge admirer of
Joseph Harwood since he started his online journey on YouTube, I truly respect his work, and I always told him “You’re name will become one of the biggest worldwide brands in the near future”. So, you can only imagine how excited I was when he contacted me about their collaboration. It was the perfect venue for me at that point to show a fraction of what I can create!
DQG: A lot of your fans probably take for granted that homosexuality and even drag is common and often accepted where they are, what would your message to them be?
AF: You know I had my low moments where I would be thinking about how unfair it is that I’m here, I don’t have the same privileges as the others do.. they live in open minded communities and I don’t, etc.. but then I realized I am who I am because of the experiences that went through, and this was a complete turning point in my mindset! I know people who live in the U.S and they’re not fortunate enough to have families that support them for being different, on the other hand I do! “We’re all living in the same fu**ed up world, it’s up to you to create a better place.”
DQG: We’ve seen your Drag Race animated work, which got a lot of attention from, Michelle Visage, Mathu Andersen and even RuPaul, is this something you plan on continuing for Season 7? 
AF: I’m not entirely sure… we’ll see 😉
DQG: Can people order up a cartoon photo of them, if so, how?
AF: They can contact me for sure anywhere in my social medias, sometimes, and I’m saying this in all honesty, I do deny the requests just because they do consume a huge amount of my time, and between college, and my art-projects, it can get a little bit crazy.
DQG: Tell us something, you’ve not previously revealed to your fans.
AF: I’m launching a beauty channel on YouTube soon.. since I started
Perfect Androgyny, my viewers have been asking for makeup tutorials nonstop and I avoided creating them until I get everything in my studio set up! If you notice my work on my personal channel it’s all experimental nothing is professional really, so I’m preparing to put up something no one expects me to be able to put up, and most importantly I’ll be fully proud of!
DQG: Where can people see you?
AF: At this point, since I live in Kuwait, only the people who live there and friends who visit can actually meet me in real life. I’ve been referred to as a YouTube Queen, so for now, social media is where people can meet me unfortunately.
We can’t thank Arabia enough for giving us her time. She’s busy making art for people and sharing the beautiful art that is ARABIA ART. She’s the beautiful drag mother of our good friend
Natalie Renee,
The Drag Enthusiast. Follow Arabia on
Facebook and
YouTube.
