Athens-based artist Daglara explores how performance can create a martyr narrative with extreme emotions, and how one can reach a degree of frenzy. Her make-up, her art’s protagonist, is a trans-speciesist dream. Inspired by facial expression from the animal kingdom, her beauty looks recall to mind sci-fi creatures and the hypersexualised femme icon. Serpentine eyes, a dolphin brow, and alien cheekbones — with Daglara, it’s all about hybridisation.  

Using a mix of seemingly disparate references, Daglara combines queer performativity with cutting-edge beauty and garment creation to boost problems with gender subversion. As Greece continues to be a rustic with an excellent deal of inherent prejudice, abiding to a system of heteronormative discrimination, her work comes as a very important force of resistance to oppressive social constructs. On the core of her artistic expression lies the will to transcend the restrictions of the human condition.

To see Daglara perform is to witness a shapeshifting ritual during which human and animal, body and spirit, meld into one. At the peak of ecstasy, Daglara convulses on the floors, her movements each unruly and controlled. When the pace slows down, imaginary snakes appear to writhe across her body instructing her back up in fluid motions. Momentarily recomposed, she takes a respite from possession, and also you, the viewer, can draw breath before she re-immerses you into her prehistoric monster fantasy.   

Your artistic practice involves performance, cutting-edge fashion design and elaborate beauty looks. What has your journey been?

Daglara: I studied fashion design on the Royal Academy in Antwerp, but since then I’ve embraced a broader, more conscientious approach to garment-making. Soon after my return to Athens, and a short-lived attempt to determine a business clothing brand, I realised that I wasn’t truly eager about the fast-paced seasonality of the industry and that traditionally available profession paths seemed too blunt. That’s once I began performing in drag and approaching my work as an inventive practice moderately than as a typical clothier. 

This allowed me the liberty to politicise my work, expand my vision, and be much more creative. Nowadays, my artistic work encompasses drawings, videos, performances, fashion design, and sculpture. Each in fashion and drag, the goal is to create a picture and experience – these elements couldn’t exist individually in what I do. But the idea continues to be a pursuit of the style ideal.

Are you able to elaborate on the presence of animals of your work and your overall concept of trans-speciesism? 

Daglara: It’s my fascination with the concept of therianthropy, the mythological ability of humans to shapeshift into animals, and my obsession with palaeontology: dinosaurs, predators, and evolution. It’s a few profound realisation that I’m a part of a greater complex ecosystem and a deep-rooted must be in sync with our primordial origins. 

What does the name ‘Daglara’ mean?

Daglara: ‘Daglara’ is a Greek folk word of Turkish origins, that’s used to explain a girl with an imposing figure and straight-forward attitude. From a private viewpoint, it defines a daring being, a warrior femme unpreoccupied with gendered notions, entirely liberated from the male (or, actually, any) gaze.

“My make-up isn’t a way to merely transcend gender but in addition species. It’s about emulating color schemes and facial expression from animals and mythical creatures and contrasting them with hyper-sexualised, feminine make-up” – Daglara

How would you describe your signature aesthetic?

Daglara: My aesthetic derives from a universe of references and obsessions that revolve around the trimmings of identity. From the quintessential female to the trans-species warrior femme – it’s all a play of hybridisation and celebration of queerness. 

Where do you draw inspiration and references from? 

Daglara: Many disparate sources: from creatures and monsters in sci-fi and horror movies like Alien, Dracula, and Hellraiser, to color patterns and facial expression of animals and palaeolithic art. From Mylene Farmer to dramatic moments in history; from Greek mythology and the cult of Dionysus to contemporary queer physiognomies in Greek cult TV.

What stories do you seek to speak through your make-up? 

Daglara: In contrast to popular norms, my make-up isn’t a way to merely transcend gender but in addition species. It’s about emulating color schemes and facial expression from animals and mythical creatures and contrasting them with hyper-sexualised, feminine make-up. For me, make-up is a tool of resistance and emancipation from conventional beauty.

You incorporate elements from Bacchic rituals and mythology into your performance. How do these nurture your art and fuel the dynamism?

Daglara: I’m generally eager about the supernatural and the divine, especially in the best way it’s professed in ancient Greek mythology and worship. There may be a correlation between the Bacchic rituals of the cult of Dionysus and my need to realize a somewhat out-of-body experience through drag performance. For me, the stage is a tool to, not less than temporarily, transcend societal norms and limitations.

What do you enjoy most about performing?

Daglara: You get the possibility to manifest and project all of your fantasies to an actual audience in a public setting. Being centre-stage and in a position to command the gang’s attention is gratifying and feels intensely empowering.

@daglara_international