Wren Tiffany (b. 1999) is a process-based artist and educator based in Philadelphia, PA. Through video, sound, and glitch, his performance work explores the wackiness of binary gender roles within the context of the internet, memory, and queerness. Tiffany explores contemporary trans issues and drag culture through the canvas of a green-screen, a liminal space where the virtual body enters a new realm of discovery and play through disruption and manipulation. His work exists within the lineage of glitch art theory by exploring the nuances of queer and trans stories through embodiment, aesthetics, and experimental techniques. With a defiant flamboyance, his short films, animations, and installations reflect both the radical joy and entangled temporalities associated with trans visibility. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Kinetic Imaging from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art from the University of Mary Washington.
The Green Room is my ongoing open studio 'Queer-keying' project that explores the transformative processes of video editing, performance, and gender transition through my queer relationship to webcams, green screens, and the art of drag.
Queer-keying is both my practice and my process.
Queer: non-conformity in gender, sexuality, politics, community, art, and life.
Keying: selection and destruction, hiding and revealing, erasure and creation.
My drag persona debuted during the early pandemic in a digital talent show, documented in my 2020 film self-made-man. Getting ready through the physical and expansive lens of a webcam became a form of bodily autonomy when medical transition was out of reach. Manipulating my digital image gave me agency in an out-of-control world.
'Queer-keying' is my rebellion, through embodied power. with a Queer methodology as my framework, the green-screen can be a [trans]formative tool. Community is at the heart of this practice and process by sharing 'Queer-keying' with my trans and drag community alike, as a means of [trans]gressive resistance in a time of increasing erasure, censorship, and surveillance.
The Slime Workshop: An Expanded Green-Screen Lecture, Film Screening, and Interactive Performance Event was a live experiment in radical [trans]formation through video and ‘Queer-keying’ performance. In this event, I explored slime as the most 'Queer' 'keying' medium—more than fabric, paint, or lighting. This methodology originated during the creation of my 2024 film DIGITAL CLEANSE (in search of bliss). A film that follows performers Ellie Loor and Lichen Von Stag as they undergo a transformative slime baptism within the nostalgic Windows XP interface.
The Green Room: A Multimedia Drag Extravaganza! was a culminating event during the VCUarts MFA Thesis Exhibition that brought together my roles as showrunner, performer, and community member. Co-hosted by Zukini Lèsagna, the show was an improvisational, satirical jukebox musical. It featured Virginia-based performers Royalty Resignz, Mac Frost, Lichen Von Stag, Mad Maxii, and Viktor Lickter. The support and artistry of these performers shaped the success of this May 2nd thesis finale performance showcase at its core. This closing event utilized camp and comedy to create a safe space within the institutional gallery to celebrate my communities, trans and drag artists alike.
