At the beginning of my transsexual transition in 1998, I feminized myself with hormones and surgery, and I began to capture my physical and psychological changes through before and after documentary shots as well as staged symbolic photography.
I knew that this catalogue of personal artifacts, signposts of my journey into and through femininity, would eventually have artistic value as they recorded the construction of my gender and my new body. It would also chronicle my personal yearning for beauty in a society that places great currency in the physical and sexual attributes of women.
As an artist, I understood that the aestheticization of the female form and the gendered performance of femininity is among the greatest narratives in the history of culture. Perhaps architecture, as a discipline, has a vaster lineage. However, the control, abstraction, eroticization and battle that defines, hierarchicalizes and rarefies The Feminine is an aesthetic preoccupation that dominates painting, sculpture, film, hieroglyphs, fashion photography, pop music videos, pornography and ubiquitous celebrity culture.
As a woman and a transsexual aesthete it is my intention to contribute to, to continue, to deconstruct, to celebrate and to subvert this lineage in the most vibrant and visceral ways I can. This project continues beyond my transsexual transition through the constant and perpetual revelation of becoming.
I have captured these images of my Self in collaboration with the many great artists I have had the pleasure of working with. I’ve credited all of them with our respective photos.
Rod (1979, 1991, 1996, 1998)
- 1979 - photo by Bernie Arsenault (my dad)
- 1991 - High School Graduation photo
- 1996 - photo by David Hawe
- 1998 - post rhinoplasty, otoplasty and chin reduction by Dr. Theodore Rousseau; photo by Geoffrey Hyland
San Fransico, USA (2001)
- conceived by Nina Arsenault
- photography by Bigone25
- surgical procedures by Dr. Douglas Ousterhout
Kink (2002)
- photography by David Paperny
- produced by Paperny Films and Alliance Atlantis to promote the documentary/ reality TV show Kink
T-Girl (2005)
- conceived by Nina Arsenault
- photography by Adam Johnson, Mitchel Raphael, Jason Krygier-Baum and Tony Fong
- produced by Fab! Magazine, Toronto's Gay Scene Magazine, to accompany a series of autobiographical columns I wrote called T-Girl
Transformation (2006)
- concept by Bruce LaBruce and Nina Arsenault
- photography by Bruce LaBruce
- photographed following a series of surgical complications that demanded the removal of my right breast implant for six months
Guadalajara, Mexico (2006)
- concept by Nina Arsenault
- photography by Rommel Manlangit
- surgical procedures by Dr. Sony
Ordinary Day, Extraordinary Girl (2007)
- concept by Nina Arsenault and Paul Gallant
- photography by Tony Fong
- produced by Fab! Magazine, Toronto's Gay Scene Magazine, to commemorate receiving the Unstoppable Award
Gorgeous in Eden (2007)
- concept by Nina Arsenault and David Hawe
- photography by David Hawe
- produced for the poster of Gorgeous in Eden, a gay circuit party I performed at
Mannequin (2007)
- concept by Nina Arsenault
- photography by Hamish Kippen (R.I.P.)
- produced by Fresh Magazine, Toronto
Socio-gaze (2008)
- concept by Peter Tamlin and Nina Arsenault
- photography by Peter Tamlin
- make-up by Iantha Goldberg
- produced by Peter Tamlin Photography
MDMA (2008)
- photographed by Anonymous
Crunk Butterfly (2008)
- photoghraphed by Nina Arsenault
Circa Queen of Clubs (2008)
- conceived by Nina Arsenault
- photography by Nina Arsenault and Cory Wournell
- produced in collaboration with Circa Nightclub and Now Magazine's Annual Love and Sex Ball which I hostessed
I was Barbie (2008)
- concept by Nina Arsenault
- photography by Michael Pihach
- produced in collaboration with Mattel and LG L'Oreal Fashion Week where I was asked to represent Barbie (and pass out cupcakes!)
Liminoid (2008)
- concept by Nina Arsenault and Marty Rotman
- photography by inkedKenny
- surgical leather couture designed by Marty Rotman of Northbound Leather
- produced by Northbound Leather, Toronto
Drama Queen (2009)
- concept by Nina Arsenault and David J. Romero
- photography by David J. Romero
- produced by Tribe Hyperclub's Drama Queen in Montreal, a party I hostessed (following in the footsteps of Amanda Lepore, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan!) The photos were produced during a video shoot creating projections that were shown at the club night
Tigress (2009)
- concept by Nick Rudnicki and Nina Arsenault
- photography by Nick Rudnicki
- produced in collaboration with The Bus Stop Theatre, Halifax
Xtra! cover (2009)
- concept by Nina Arsenault
- photography by Paula Wilson
- produced by Gordon Bowness and Xtra! Magazine for their Dec 2009 cover
The Silicone Diaries (2009)
- concept by Nina Arsenault
- photography by David Hawe
- produced by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre to promote my one woman play
Sublime Outcast (2010)
- concept by Brendan Healy, Tanja Tiziana and Nina Arsenault
- photographed by Tanja Tiziana
- produced by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre for their 2010/11 season brochure
Superstar Barbie (2010)
- conceived by Nina Arsenault
- photography by Michael Pihach
- produced by Venusmachine for the play I was Barbie
High Priestess of Sodom (2010)
- concept by Nina Arsenault
- photography by Mitchel Raphael
- produced by Sodom, Toronto's Decadent Dance Party, a monthly queer masquerade party which I hosted in January 2010 and was (dis)honourably named The High Priestess
Fey (2010)
- concept by Nina Arsenault
- photography by Michael Chambers
Surrealist Automaton (2010)
- concept by Neil Mota and Nina Arsenault
- photography by Neil Mota
- produced by Neil Mota Photography
- captured the morning after 18 consecutive performances of my one woman play The Silicone Diaries
idol hands do the devils, werqk! (2011)
- concept and photography by Nina Arsenault
- produced on Mac Photo Booth, mirror effect (no other digital manipulation)
Artist: Face the Community (2011)
- concept by Nina Arsenault and David Pike
- photography by David Pike
- produced by 10 x 10: a book of Queer Artists by Queer Photographers
Plane of Immanence (2011)
- concept by Nina Arsenault and Jordan Tannahil
- photography by Jordan Tannahil
- produced during the shoot for Plane of Immanence, a short video
Nina Arsenault with Watermelon (2011)
- concept and photography by Drasko Bogdanovic
Hollywood Zombie (2011)
- concept by Nina Arsenault and Mitchel Raphael
- photography by Mitchel Raphael
- produced by Sodom, Toronto's Decadent Dance Party
Three Nights in Sodom (2011)
- concepts by Nina Arsenault and Mitchel Raphael
- photography by Mitchel Raphael
- digital manipulation by Joey Wargachuk
- make-up by Myles Sexton
- produced by Sodom, Toronto's Decadent Dance Party (who used them as posters to publicize their night club night)
The Crime of Embellishment (2011)
- concept by Nina Arsenault and Istvan Kantor (a.k.a. Monty Cantsin Amen)
- photography by Istvan Kantor and Dean Goodwin
- produced during the video shoot for The Crime of Embellishment
Ophelia/Machine (2011)
- by Nina Arsenault and Jordan Tannahil
- produced by Venusmachine
- coming soon
Obscenity: Madonna / Whore (2012)
- by Nina Arsenault and Bruce LaBruce
- produced by Up and Coming magazine
- coming soon
Guadalajara, Mexico City (2012)
- by Nina Arsenault and Jordan Tannahil
- produced by Venusmachine and Suburban Beast
