PEUR LAINE (25 mins)
Tangente, Montreal, 2009

Peur Laine is a Multidisciplinary performance in which I explore ‘typical’ Quebec culture stereotypes and explore my story as a French-Canadian queer.

I fondle the zenophobia that floats around the ‘pure laine’ culture, I use humour to deconstruct traditions and create powerful physical images that bend the boundaries of the past.

Special Thanks to:

Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Quebec,
Andrea Gore, Natalie Claude,
Miriam Ginestier and Studio 303.

PEUR LAINE (25 mins) Tangente, Montreal, 2009

HOT HOT GOSSIP
Edgy Women Festival
Studio 303, Montreal, 2008

4 Episodes of live-theatre, multi-media soap opera in which I play
the role of ‘Sam’.

Also starring: Sasha Van Bon Bon
(The Scandelles-Toronto)
and Chantria Tram

Written and Directed by
Dayna McLeod

Produced by
Miriam Ginestier and Studio 303

HOT HOT GOSSIP, Edgy Women Festival, Studio 303, Montreal, 2008

À PART!
Skol Gallery
Montreal, 2008

During the Àpart! Workshops at Skol Gallery in Montreal, twelve local and international participants, myself inlcuded, spent 6 days sharing strategies and carrying out experiments geared towards an open studio-style exhibition. The result was a week of intervention work, public performance and a multitude of collaborative works. Followed by an exhibition in the Skol Gallery.

Artists:
Daniela Ansovini (Montréal)
Nathalie Dion (Montréal)
Richard Cassidy (Montréal)
Youmna Chlala (San Francisco)
Val Desjardins (Montréal)
Jacqueline Hoang Nguyen (Stockholm/Montréal)
Michelle Lacombe (Montréal)
Anna Leventhal (Montréal)
Noèmi McComber (Montréal)
Danielle Neu (New York)
Pablo Rodriguez (Montréal)
Ben Schaafsma (Chicago/New York).

ÀPART! Skol Gallery, Montreal, 2008

PEUR LAINE- draft
Galerie Latitude53
Alberta, 2007

Commisisoned by the The Canadian Literature Centre / Centre de littérature canadienne in Alberta, Canada, this 20 minute live performance addressed the latent racism, fear and insecurity inherent in the expression 'Pure Laine', the French term, literally meaning pure wool, which is a politically- and culturally-charged phrase referring to the people having original
French-Canadian ancestry.

I was asked to produce this performance while the ‘Commission Bouchard Taylor’ toured Québec therefore I decided to address the theme of Québec’s present identity crisis through my own experience as a ‘minority’ in Québec, (the homosexual minority). I used my body, spoken bilingual texts, and video as an entertaining way to share social history and address painful personal experiences around the underlying homophobia that is still very present
in Québec.

(The Commission's mandate was to perceive the debate on reasonable accommodation as the symptom of a more basic problem concerning the sociocultural integration model established in Québec since the 1970s. It was a review of interculturalism, immigration, secularism and the theme of Québec identity)

PEUR LAINE - draft, Galerie Latitude53, Alberta, 2007

STAGE WORK
ongoing

When emceeing cabaret events and performing one-time burlesque numbers, I present a very confident, fun and sexy personae that has body pride and a charming confidence. Making space between the very sexy femme and the uber masculine drag king, I perform edgy pieces that create a zone where the masculine female can exist and be sexy while floating in a ‘gender gray zone’.

On stage with Murray Hill at Galapagos Art Space, Brooklyn, 2005


On stage with Alexis O’Hara at Sala Rosa, Montreal, 2007


On stage at Meow Mix, Montreal, 2008

WEDDING DRESS
Kleinfeld, Brooklyn
NY, 2005

In this Intervention performance, artist Don Penny acted as my father and we booked an appointment with our very own ‘bridal consultant’ in the most prestigious bridal store in Brooklyn, NY. During 2 hours I tried a range of wedding dresses and was treated like a bride to be by employees, other customers and the people accompanying them. My queer body caused an obvious unease amongst the women in the store.

The reactions varied between whispers, nervous laughter, high traffic in my area of the store, and some very sweet and sincere smiles.

WEDDING DRESS, Kleinfeld, Brooklyn, NY, 2005

EMPATHY
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
NY, 2005

I am walking home when I notice a man in drag wandering, seeming lost. He tells me that he had been stood up by a photographer that night. So I agree to take photographs of him.

The portrait I took of him that night lingered in my thoughts for days after. I couldn’t look at it. The pain and sadness in his face was too much
for me.

Three days later I decided to do a performance in an unfinished basement to address the unease that was lingering inside me since
the encounter.

The self-portrait I produced during the performance mirrors the pain and disturbing sadness in the man’s face and allowed me to unravel some of the emotions that had made that encounter difficult to digest.

‘Under’ self-portrait during a performance, 2005


‘Man in Drag/man in pain’ Brooklyn, 2005

AKIMBO - DESJARDINS
Dore studio
San Francisco, 2004

In this collaborative performance I asked artist Robin Akimbo to join me in a photo studio to reimagine art history with the inclusion of more female icons.

By replacing Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat in the famous BASQUIAT-WARHOL portrait by Micheal Halsband, we performed a feminist commentary on the lack of women icons in art history and in the art world at large.

‘Akimbo-Desjardins’, Dore studio, San Francisco, 2004


Basquiat-Warhol by Micheal Halsband