THE ART OF DRAG

Zürich, Switzerland, 2021

A drag artiste self-generating into a glittering persona. An important record of a powerful artistic process - that of exploring, creating and witnessing one’s own transformation, gaining freedom through constructing oneself as a work of art. Healthcare professional by day, drag queen by night, the protagonist of these intimate portraits takes his time building his female persona, blurring the lines between the two spheres of his being; his reflection in each mirror escaping the rigid boundaries of gender identity.   

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A gay man faces himself in several mirrors as he prepares to take the stage for his drag performance. Healthcare professional by day, drag queen by night, the protagonist of these intimate portraits takes his time building up and constructing his female persona, blurring the lines between the two spheres of his being; his reflection in each mirror escaping the rigid boundaries of gender identities.   

As the heavy make-up, the exaggerated eye liner, mascara and vivid lipstick come on, the amorphous lines between man and woman cross and a dazzling drag diva emerges.

The tight close ups of this glamorous drag queen take us into an intimate space where the performer is changing, both literally and metaphorically before our eyes. These are moments of strength and fragility, the heightened make-up both an impenetrable armor that shields vulnerabilities as well as reveals a fiercely flamboyant form of self expression.   

Drag culture is on the rise in the last few years, and though it has been around a long time as an art form, it has moved in recent years from an underground subaltern culture to a mainstream global phenomenon. Closely associated with the LGBTQIA+ community, with people who are largely unseen and overlooked, the art form is vastly diverse. Even though a drag performance is fleeting and ephemeral, it is an important marker of making one's presence felt, of navigating the existential question of identity beyond gender and the very elemental challenge of being human.

These portraits of a drag artiste self-generating into a glittering persona become an important record of a powerful artistic process - that of exploring, creating and witnessing one’s own transformation, gaining freedom through constructing oneself as a work of art.

- Text by Samira Sheth (Art Writer & Curator)