Eggshells Dae Masiza

Dae Masiza 

Through photography, digital art, and dressmaking, Eggshells explores the concept of fundamental memories. Memories of past experiences shape the present and frame the future. In this exhibition, I explore specific memories that relate to my experiences of gender expression.

I chose to communicate these experiences through drag, as drag is the art form that has been consistent in my life, whether in secret or proudly. For each of these memories, I have created a different character to embody these significant experiences. The idea of hyperbolising these childhood moments into entire scenes and personalities with their own accompanying outfit is the exact kind of creativity that made me fall in love with drag. 

To construct the different elements of this exhibition, I found myself reliving some of my earliest memories of euphoria, but in doing so, had to confront my earliest memories of dysphoria. A number of the materials used in the construction of this exhibition involved me entering spaces and sourcing materials from the very areas of life that I am highlighting and, in some cases, criticising in order to bind those materials to my body and tell the story of how I found myself.