Artist Statement #3

Drag Queens are the modern epitome of the gender performativity in being a women. Obviously, drag takes it much past a more "socially acceptable" way of exhibiting femininity to a point of entertainment, but it is only an exaggerated representation of what women are expected to uphold in their everyday lives. This expectation goes so far that some consider the act of not doing certain things to be seen as more masculine such as putting on makeup or perfume, or shaving ones body hair. I wanted this piece to convey that utterly exaggerated gender expression through the faces of drag queens, as well as strip that away from the piece just as much, so throughout the light show, the faces of several very notable queens such as Trixie Mattel, Katya, Ru Paul, and Sashalby would form and then fade once again into an amalgamation of pixels and shadow, unrecognizable once again. Drag queens are an interesting subject to me on this topic because most do not even identify with their hyperfeminine identity in their everyday lives, but usually as a form of artistic expression instead (but I would also like to acknowledge that there are not only male drag queens, and there are also drag queens). The idea that the level of performance expected from women is so high that it has been turned into a form of art and entertainment, so what is there when there is only blurred faces...