Switch craft: transsexual performer Nina Arsenault masters the art of becoming
by Chris Dupuis
photo by Bruce Labruce
To say that Nina Arsenault looks like a cyborg Barbie is almost an understatement. At five-foot 11 with 36-26-40 measurments, pillowy lips locke din a permanent pout, and a cascading mane that changes colour to her whims and wigs, she’s definately not the girl next door. And she never aspired to be. Born male, she underwent 60 cosmetic prodecures between 1998 and 2006, at a cost of $200,000, to re-scullpt her face and body into the woman she always dreamed of being. Arsenault’s epic transformation is documented unflinchingly in The Silicone Diaries, her solo show that returns to Buddies in bad Times Theatre this fall after a sold-out run last season. The piece kicks off when Arsenault is five years old, living in Beamsville’s Golden Horseshoe Traile rpArk, and exploring her fascination with flawless skin and arched brows of department store mannequins. It delves into the time she spent moonlighting for a porn web site while working as an assistant prof at York; she marked students’ papers during her live sex shows. One of the funniest and saddest moments tells of an encounter at Ultra Supper Club on Queen West with former Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, who tried to pick her up before realizing she has a penis. Delivered in direct address format -
Spalding Gray is an influence – Arsenault’s story features a raft of shocking details, from the illegal silicone injections that built her curvaceous figure to the horror story of a transsexual severely disfigured by a botched surgery. But provocation is not the piece’s raison d’etre. At its core, The Silicone Diaries is a trenchant deconstruction of what it means to be a woman and what it means to be beautiful, from someone who has gone to considerable lengths to achieve both.