Genderbender is an ongoing performance series (2019–2024) that follows the shifting landscape of my gender identity and its public perception. Through these works, I trace the bodily and emotional thresholds between conformity and self-recognition — from the early attempts to “pass” within a binary framework to the eventual reclamation of my body as a site of truth and resistance.
Each iteration unfolds as a live negotiation between the performer and the audience: a shared witnessing of transformation, exposure, and repair. The series merges personal history with collective reflection, challenging the gaze that seeks to define gender as a stable category.
Rooted in queer and eco-activist practice, Genderbender embraces vulnerability as a political tool — a way to dismantle social expectations, but also to reveal the quiet, enduring resilience of becoming.
Rooted in queer and eco-activist practice, Genderbender embraces vulnerability as a political tool — a way to dismantle social expectations, but also to reveal the quiet, enduring resilience of becoming.
The first Genderbender was created as my final piece for a performance art course. At the time, I still perceived myself as a woman — yet my appearance often confused others. I was addressed as “boy,” confronted by puzzled looks in women’s restrooms, and constantly reminded of society’s binary lens.
In the performance, I exaggerated femininity: a short dress, high heels, smooth legs. I asked the audience to help me wax my body — to literally strip away the unwanted traces of hair, of masculinity. As the strips of wax came off, so did the illusion of fitting in. I stood nearly naked before the audience, exposed yet strangely liberated.
It was not only a performance about gender — it was a ritual of adaptation, violence, and the impossible pursuit of belonging.
It was not only a performance about gender — it was a ritual of adaptation, violence, and the impossible pursuit of belonging.
Photo: Elīna Primaka
Photo: Elīna Primaka
Photo: Elīna Primaka
Photo: Elīna Primaka
International performance festival "Starptelpa", RISEBA, Rīga 2019