Drag Art: transformation, subversion and creative processes
drag art; transformismo; queer performances; creative process; body identity;
This thesis is about drag art, or transformismo, integrated into research in the field of performing arts. The study was conducted by an artist who practices drag art in the drag queen category, through the experience of the body as research. From an experimental practice that begins with the self, embodied in the drag persona Esmeralda, it extends to drag art in its collectiveness, considering its social, aesthetic, cultural, political, geographical, and intersectional dimensions. This is achieved through the intersection of different research approaches: (1) interdisciplinary literature review drawing from performance and gender studies; (2) dialogue with and among contemporary artists in the scope of queer performances, established through fieldwork, experiences in the LGBTQIAPN+ scene, and a brief repertoire survey; (3) Practice-based Research, involving the creation of drag performances and the attendance of related courses and workshops. However, the sources share the common notion of the body as identity, with the concept of identity and its ramifications emerging as a thread that begins to weave the thesis together.