Lauren(ce) Myers Reese Uses Desert Imagery and Testosterone Needles to Reframe Trans Experience in Video Works
Interdisciplinary video artist Lauren(ce) Myers Reese (she/he/they; formerly Laura), based in Nevada, employs desert environments and hormone-therapy items to craft a queer and trans visual narrative. In the 3:30 video Window & Mirror (El espejo y la ventana) (2020), the natural Nevada backdrop is disrupted by testosterone needles embedded in prickly pear fruit, provoking thought among cisgender viewers. Reese seeks to challenge heterosexual audiences while captivating queer spectators. Another 2020 piece, Little Yoke of Heaven (4:42), presents a fat trans individual, delving into trans identity beyond medical transition. Other notable works include Tfilah (2022) (20:36 video) and Bonus Hole (Poppers) (2020). Reese critiques the representation of trans trauma, connecting queer experiences with landscape and collective memory.
Key facts
- Lauren(ce) Myers Reese is an interdisciplinary video artist based in Paradise, Nevada, who uses she/he/they pronouns and was formerly named Laura
- Window & Mirror (El espejo y la ventana) (2020) is a video and audio work of 3:30 featuring Nevada landscape and watery reflections interrupted by prickly pear fruit pierced with testosterone needles
- Little Yoke of Heaven (2020) is a video and audio work of 4:42 showing a fat trans person from chest to waist on a table with mangoes, avocados, prickly pear fruit, and a syringe holder of testosterone needles
- Reese states, "Sometimes I hope to confound straight audiences while delighting queer ones"
- Reese writes, "In becoming the desert, the trans body is the landscape, the earth from which we are made"
- Bonus Hole (Poppers) (2020) consists of testosterone vials and stickers, dimensions variable
- Tfilah (2022) is a video work of 20:36
- The artist's website is lmyersreese.com and Instagram handle is @lmyersreese
Entities
Artists
- Lauren(ce) Myers Reese
- Laura
Institutions
- Southwest Contemporary
Locations
- Paradise
- Nevada
- United States