“Transitioning: across dimensions” by Emile Serrano, Maud Vivas, & Bernardo Atezada

An edited photograph of two figures descending a flight of stairs, stark against a grayscale background. The figure on the left is humanoid; octopus arms emerge from their crotch. The figure on the right has the head of a wolf. They are tied to one another with rope.
Octopus arms stretch from the humanoid figure's crotch. They spread their own arms wide, head tilted towards the sky.
Hands outstretched, the wolf-headed figure stares into the camera from above.

You can read this piece in Spanish here.

The meaning of this project through the eyes of the wolf…
When I was a little kid, I used to dream of a world without rules, without roles, without expectations of what I should be. A reality where it didn’t matter what I looked like, nor what I had been told that I “was,” just how I felt. This is why I would fantasize about a world where people could change form, color, and species. My transition is intertwined with and intimately linked to the belief of constant change, to not restrict myself to structures and constructs even though they might seem safe. It is represented precisely by myths of shapeshifters, people who are half-animal, half-something else. 

The meaning of this project throughout alternate dimensions…
“Trans people don’t exist” is a phrase that I’ve heard on a daily basis. Does this mean, then, that I do not exist? Am I perhaps imaginary? Questions like these came to mind. I went from feeling like a being that does not exist, that does not fit within this system, to understanding that I am from another dimension, a more complicated dimension that does not fit within the hegemonic plane. 

My transition helped me see that I am happy in the diverse dimension, that I have appropriated my non-hegemonic corporality and that I love it how it is, with all its variations. 

In this project, we reflect on what makes us connect as transmasculine people. We found that it all comes back to the experience of change. Through these photographs, we seek to portray a world where the borders between reality and fiction fade. 

What does it mean to be trans, in our eyes? The capacity to change. This is not exclusive to our community, but it is one of the threads that connects us, that allows us to understand our necessity to name ourselves, to exist. It is from there that this project stems from the need to transform ourselves, to connect ourselves, to name ourselves through rebellion, through questioning what is considered correct, good, hegemonic. Thank you for sharing these worlds and different visions for existence and resistance. 


Emile Serrano (He/him)
Trans man, activist, nude model, biomechanical engineer, and physiotherapist. Focused on working from and with the body and corporal diversity. Accompanies trans people and makes transmasculine bodies visible in the modeling field through his conference work.

Maud Vivas (He/him)
Trans man with a passion for learning, music, mythology, and symbolism. He loves collaborative work and the creative process. He is interested in people and the complexity of human relations and aspires to be a conflict mediator. He believes in the capacity for constant change and empathy.

Bernando Atezada (He/him)
Mexican visual artist that currently works in the fields of museography and curatorship in audiovisual production and multidisciplinary art. Alumnus from the Art and Design College at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He has focused on subjects linked to the concepts of connection through collaborative art.