Exploring trans embodiment through collage. Using provided materials, create representations of transition, sex, and desire beyond identity.About this Event
Location: Room 240, University College at 15 King's College Circle
Date: Wednesday February 25, 2026
Time: 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Event Description:
Throughout her career, Filipinx trans artist Mark Aguhar produced gouache artworks which depict trans/genderqueer bodies having sex; however, many of the bodies are not figural (realistic) portrayals, but are composed of numerous patterns, textiles, fabrics, and other designs which Mark found in her everyday life. Central to all of these works are the double-ended dildos, a material method integral to Mark’s work around producing transfeminine practices of sex for transitioning bodies.
This discussion/workshop will center around how Mark’s works follows other trans artists who produce transitioning bodies which push the limits of how bodies are represented and express transition as a creative practice. These works will primarily be in dialogue with Paul Preciado’s 2018 "Counterssexual Manifesto," in which they use the history of the dildo in trans sex(uality) practices to materially produce new forms of representing bodies and their desires beyond identity.
The workshop will apply these practices of producing bodies in transition through the practice of collage. Using materials provided, participants can apply these discussed methods to produce their own representations of transness and its elements of transitional sex, desire, and gender fluctuations that need not be identified, but enjoyed.
About Nathan Clark:
Nathan Clark (they/them) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Art History at the University of Toronto. Their dissertation, “Cruel Visibility: Transfeminine Art and Risk, Desire, and Vulnerability in the Transgender Tipping Point,” investigates how transfeminine artists represent transition through representations of vulnerability, desire, and risk to evoke how increased transgender visibility in the 2000s-2010s has not resulted in an optimistic transgender future(s), but a precarious reality of transgender bodies being susceptible to assault, suicide, and death. Their research interests include trans* aesthetic theory, transfeminism, and queer “negativity” approaches to the body and gender, sex, and sexuality.
Location Details:
The location of this event is room 240 located at University College (15 King's College Circle). The closest entrance is on the left side of Hart House Circle if you are walking north from King's College Circle. We will have signs directing people to the room.
About Sex Salon:
The Sex Salon is a monthly speakers series organized and hosted by graduate students from the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, and typically meets on the last Thursday of every month from 5:00 - 7:00 PM EST.
Accessibility Information:
Please let us know of any access needs at [email protected]
Wheelchair Access:
The venue is wheelchair accessible. The main University College building currently features two accessible entrances on the north and south sides of the building. Site map can be viewed here.
Washroom Access:
There are two all-gender bathrooms located on the same floor as the event room.
Food:
Light refreshments will be provided. If you have specific dietary needs or snack requests, please let us know in advance by emailing [email protected]. We will do our best to accommodate.
ASL Interpretation:
ASL interpretation can be arranged upon request. Please notify us at least one week in advance if you require this service by emailing [email protected].
Event Venue
15 King's College Cir room 240, 15 King's College Circle, Toronto, Canada
USD 0.00
