“Chanelta Shanaynay”, “Miss Bianca and Krystall Ball”, and “Ethyl Alcohol” were conceived in 2009 and inspired by Proposition 8 (a California ballot proposition created with the intent to ban same-sex marriage in the United States). I became aware of Prop 8 while researching political and society portrait painting, and decided to do LGBTQ2S+ portraits in the Grand Manner style.
Edmontonians know Chanelta, Binki, Krystall, and Ethyl from Pride Festival, Play, and the Stardust Lounge at Evolution. Chanelta, Binki, and Krystall also headlined the Fringe hit "Guys In Disguise 2: The Sequin". Chanelta is a trained singer and dancer, admired for her tributes to Beyoncé and Tina Turner, themselves artists and feminist icons. Binki’s idol is Diana Ross. “With all the wigs, sequin gowns, false lashes and false tits...she is basically a drag queen,” Binki remarks.
I met Chanelta's alter ego “J.M.” and Binki’s alter ego “J.D.” at a downtown home furnishings store. We all worked together for 3 years, and Chanelta was a key figure in my early development as a professional artist and designer. Binki and I are friends to this day. In her other life, Ethyl’s alter ego “D,C.” cuts and styles hair at a downtown salon, and she is responsible for many of her friends’ gravity defying looks. Krystall, as “K.C.”, works in real estate. Ethyl graciously lent us her home for this photo series.
Many women understand the financial, physical and personal sacrifices drag artists make to transform into their feminine personae. Preparation involves hours in makeup and hair, and bodies are tucked, padded, lifted and corseted to achieve the desired shape. Performing requires major investments in costumes, jewellery, wigs, and footwear, and hundreds of hours honing their craft, with no guarantee of financial return. Drag queens also risk discrimination and stigmatization from the broader public and within their community.
I am queer, but being bisexual in a heterosexual marriage, I am not visible. Growing up Catholic, being gay was publicly tolerated and privately disparaged, so I learned to hide my identity from people I loved. In drag, the artist’s power comes from celebrating hyper-femininity and sexuality, and deconstructing gender. Whereas I conceal, they reveal.
Co-opting traditional portraiture, historically reserved for nobility and elites, to create powerful images of a marginalised community, challenges cultural norms of authority, gender, sex, and belonging. Drag has evolved to include cis queens (women born biologically female who perform in drag), trans queens (women born biologically male), non-binary queens (who do not identify as a single gender), bearded queens. A friend says, "Respect the rules, but question who made those rules."
