This article is part of Hyperallergic‘s Pride Month Seriesfeaturing an interview with a different emerging or mid-career transgender or non-binary artist each weekday throughout June.
As anti-trans legislation threatens communities across the country, non-binary trans fem artist and curator Pau Pescador explores the havens trans people have created for themselves. Next week she exposure A place to stay will open at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Pescador, who lives and works in Los Angeles, selected a roster of nine artists and began organizing the show in April. Her own work is also included in the exhibition, which examines the ways in which trans people have found refuge from bigotry, from intimate personal relationships to community events; all the works on display speak of individual strength and resilience.
Hyperallergic: What is the current orientation of your artistic practice?
Paul Pescador: Right now, I’m working on a few articles. The first is a solo exhibition at my gallery in Los Angeles, Tyler Park Presents, which opens in September. In this work, I think of my own domestic space as a safe haven for myself during my own gender transition – a small place of respite and safety (both physically and emotionally) from the challenges of the world that confronts me. ‘surrounded.
As part of my initial research for this project, I am curating an exhibition for the Los Angeles LGBT Center as part of Trans Pride which opens on Friday June 16th. The exhibition, titled A place to stay, focuses on how trans people create safe spaces for themselves during times of adversity. Artists in the exhibition include Pippa Garner, Patty Gone, Page Person, Reynaldo Rivera, Miller Robinson, Sammie Veeler, Zoe Walsh, Ryat Yezbick, and myself.
H: In what ways, if any, does your gender identity play a role in your experience as an artist?
Although my practice has always posed questions about how the individual navigates the world around them, much of my work since my gender transition has focused on “How does my own body feel as it evolves?” Both with others during romantic engagements and by being seen in public spaces.
A few weeks ago, I made a more recent work called “Ass wants what it wants(2023) at Situations Gallery in New York and Salon Silicon in Mexico City in which I explored – humorously and poignantly – the challenges I’ve had struggling with sex and intimacy with others since transition, and to be vulnerable. During the performance, I discussed personal encounters while showing a video of me trying to have a sexual moment with a model. Both subjects were naked as I clumsily create a moment of intimacy between myself and this object.
I have now completed three longer videos which deal with my relationship with my own gender over the past few years. In 2022, as part of a personal exhibition for Pitzer College entitled Functioning, I made a video in which I conducted a series of interviews with transgender people who work in government. My goal for the project was to focus less on specific burning legislative topics and more on understanding what it is like to work in systems of government during transition. Were the subjects’ experiences positive or negative? How do their experiences resonate with broader trans rights concerns right now in the United States?
H: Which artists inspire your work today? What are your other sources of inspiration?
I always start by thinking of those in my immediate circle who inspire me directly. Queer people I immediately think of include Daniel Ingroff, David Gilbert, Amir Nikravan, Mark McKnight, and my colleagues and peers I’ve known for over a decade. I’m grateful to see their work often, and we can see each other’s work grow and evolve.
H: What are your hopes for the LGBTQIA+ community right now?
I want the LGBTQIA+ community to not feel alone. First, individuals attempt to move about in their daily lives as laws are passed that directly affect them. But also with the community as a whole – feeling marginalized and feeling that it is up to them to resolve their mistreatment.
The laws in this country regarding trans and gay rights affect EVERYONE, regardless of their sexuality. It is an attack on the freedom of an individual! I hope that during this Pride month, our allies – and especially those who support these laws – will take the time to reflect on this. We all deserve the right to feel safe in our bodies, our relationships, and our livelihoods.
