Rio Sofia first encountered
sissification porn, where men are forced into womanhood as a form of punishment
or humiliation, through fetish magazines. This rich underground visual language
complicated her understanding of transgender representation and contradicted
developing narratives in the mainstream that celebrated gender transition as an
empowering form of self-determination. In her work, Sofia inserts her body into
the forced feminization narrative by utilizing self-portraiture and conventions
in print pornography which, in many ways, parallels Catholic religious
iconography. By using formal techniques of composition, lighting, and the gaze,
there is a divine and unquestionable social hierarchy. Sofia’s research hopes
to explore and speak back to the complex relationship that exists between
gender, transformation, and power.
Río Sofia is a visual artist
and organizer. Her recent body of work explores forced feminization porn, a
genre that fantasizes about experiencing gender transformation through coercion
and loss of control. In 2019, this work was spotlighted in Out Magazine's April
and August print issues. She graduated from Cooper Union’s School of Art and is
currently the Programs & Operations Coordinator at Queer|Art. As an
organizer, Rio co-founded Body Hack, a monthly trans and nonbinary happy hour
at Mood Ring that also serves as a platform for intracommunal fundraising. She
is also developing an online database of trans femme artists, past and
present.