“Sarah gives a name (or face) to those who by our larger society are deemed not worthy of one. The process of physical, mental and emotional detransition is a trial beyond most I have encountered, but it does not reach the brutality of social detransition. The way we are seen by our present or former community of LGBT+ people is akin to Judas or even Lucifer (falling from grace) in the Christian church. Such is our assigned role in the wider culture before we have even begun to unpick our own feelings of pain and regret (for some) in our detransitions. We are the unpopular voiceless. Sarah is giving us a voice” ~ Amber
The Art
This art series seeks to provide a platform for detransitioned women/females. The term detransition denotes people who sought to transition into another ‘gender’ either through using hormones or having certain operations (mastectomy/hysterectomy/phalloplasty) and who later realised this path wasn’t right for them.
The transgender debate raises many complex issues surrounding why people wish to transition in the first place and why and when they halt the process. Due to its political nature, many detransitioners find themselves alienated from their families as well as from the trans community that previous welcomed them, which now attempts to censor their critique and openness of their life experience.
Sarah Vaci felt these stories were relevant and important in the current climate and became curious as to the causes of ‘feeling transgender/born in the wrong body’ and equally wishing to later detransition.
After reaching out and discussing various ideas with artist and detransitioned woman Laura Becker, Sarah chose portraiture as the perfect vehicle for giving detransitioners a voice. She was initially going to use needle-felting, for which she was previously known, but felt oil painting was more accessible and relatable. Portraits in essence capture a character and a moment and have historically been used to celebrate renowned persons. I feel these brave women should be highlighted as important figures of our time, their life experiences epitomise so much about the current state of affairs in gender ideology, lack of mental health support, sexism, homophobia, misogyny and politics of the world today.
The Artist
Sarah Vaci/Lordy (b. 1977 in London, UK) is an Anglo-Hungarian artist based in Devon, best known for her political fibre art and portraiture, which began in 2015. Her work focusses on identity, the body and power, more recent explorations into gender ideology and feminism motivated her to create Metamorphosis 100.
From 1996-99 Sarah studied Time Based Media at The Kent Institute of Art and Design, which led to a series of videos and animations examining the power structures of sado-masochism and eroticism. The dynamic contrast of medium and subject matter has been an ongoing theme throughout the work. Her early career also involved running film and stop motion workshops in prisons, hospitals, at The British Museum and with children on the autistic spectrum. This fed an interest in biology, creativity and the mind which has influenced her successive work. Sarah then completed a Masters in Cross-sectoral and Community Arts at Goldsmiths (combined with an MSc in Inclusion and Disability Studies at IOE). Alongside this, Sarah began expanding her artistic vision using Svankmajer style pixilation and stop-frame animation to create a series of films about the taboo physicalities of the human existence such as body hair, premature ejaculation and menstruation.
After the birth of her two children, Sarah had a pause from teaching and filmmaking to re-assess the direction her creativity would take. She began needle-felting, and gained international acclaim for her realistic portraiture and for pushing boundaries with pieces such as PEST, featured in The Guardian, a political piece involving live insects. It was during this time that Sarah developed an interest in collectionism with creating a felted artwork of 100 eyes using photos sent from around the world, and a wedding veil with donated images of people’s own nipples. Each picture was accompanied by a personal insight into the sender’s experience. Through this work, Sarah realised the value in social media as a medium for creative activism.
Sarah’s awareness of identity politics which began in her teens with conflicts around her cultural roots, as well with her sex (gender) has been the greatest influence in her current series. Over lockdown she briefly identified as genderqueer, became involved in gender diverse groups and researched taking testosterone. It was during this time of self discovery and while studying counselling/psychology, Sarah became conscious of the range of issues facing dysphoric young people and in particular detransitioners. Metamorphosis 100 is a culmination of these interests and passions and using her enterprising approach to connecting with individuals around the world, she is creating an evocative, topical collectionist artwork.