This publication is part of the ongoing project *Diva World*
Photographic Project by PIETRO ANSALDI
WHERE BEAUTY BECOMES FREEDOM
INTRODUCTION
AN ONGOING PROJECT WHERE BEAUTY BECOMES FREEDOM
This work began as an unexpected encounter with Taiwan’s drag community. I arrived as an outsider, but curiosity became connection. I did not come to define drag, I came to listen.
The images do not document, they translate emotion. They search for the humanity behind performance, for the truth beneath makeup and persona.
The queens in these pages are collaborators. Through them, I discovered that identity is something we build, reveal, and protect. Diva World is an ongoing project, a dialogue of empathy, transformation, and the courage to become ourselves.
QUEENS
DAHLIA STRENGTH CAN
BE QUIET, BUT ALWAYS PRESENT.
Dahlia was not her first name. It was given to her during her first drag competition in Taichung, and she chose to keep it. She says her old name felt “ugly”, but Dahlia felt like a beginning. A flower and a fire.
She is one of the youngest queens in Taiwan’s drag community. For her, drag is not disguise but release. When she performs, she becomes more herself. Joy is her mission. On stage, she wants people to feel alive again, even for a moment.
Behind the lights, she faced online judgment. It hurt at first but instead of responding with words, she turned the pain into performance. Dance became her answer.
Dahlia does not belong to any drag house. She stands alone because independence helps her grow. She believes Taiwan’s drag scene is welcoming, human and community-driven.
She does not want fame. She wishes to be understood. She hopes people can see all her shades: beautiful, strange, emotional and constantly changing.
Drag made her stronger. On stage, she says, she can finally be herself.
YOLANDA MESULA
ART HAS NO GENDER AND NEITHER DO I.
Yolanda moves with grace, her name itself means elegance, a reflection of the person she has become. In her performance, femininity and strength meet in quiet balance. She is not hiding behind a mask; she is revealing a truth shaped by freedom, art, and self-acceptance.
Her name, chosen for its softness and flow, speaks of poise and duality, gentle yet confident. Supported early by her drag mother, who gave her costumes, stage, and trust, Yolanda began performing not as rebellion but as self-realization.
Through drag, she discovered that art has no gender, that expression is stronger than any label. Behind the makeup there is a mind shaped by design, movement, and emotion. Dance taught her liberation; performance gave her voice. For Yolanda, drag is not a disguise but an extension of the soul, a reminder that every person carries both masculine and feminine forces, and that harmony exists when they are embraced. Her mission is connection.
Through beauty and humor, she builds bridges between audiences and performers, between queer and straight, between visibility and empathy.
She believes Taiwan can be a beacon, a place where drag transcends nightlife and becomes culture. Yolanda performs not to provoke, but to inspire. On every stage, she transforms grace into courage, inviting others to see themselves, and to love what they find.
HANNAH.MONINA I CARRY HER DRESS, AND
MY VOICE.
Hannah is not just a performer; she is a reflection of memory and repair. Her drag began as a dialogue with her mother, an act of reconciliation between admiration and distance. When she wore a dress once owned by her mother, performance became therapy, a way to rebuild a connection quietly eroded by time and difference.
Her drag persona is elegant and graceful, carrying the strength and calm of a woman she once looked up to, now reimagined through her own body and artistry.
Between theatre, comedy and performance, Hannah turns daily life into a stage of introspection. Identity is not fixed but fluid, blending the artist with the human.
For her, drag is not rebellion; it is a language of empathy, an expression of love and an invitation to feel joy. Inspired by icons such as Shakira, she performs not to fight but to share happiness and freedom, revealing that transformation is not about becoming someone else, but rediscovering who you already are.
SANDRA HOE
LEADER, HEALER, STORYTELLER
Sandra’s strength was born from pain. Growing up in a troubled home, she learned early that silence can harm as much as violence. Drag became her way to speak, to heal, and to protect others the way she once protected her mother.
Her drag name, Sandra Ho, is inspired by actress Sandra Oh. It carries clarity, confidence, and Asian visibility. On stage she does not imitate anyone. She arrives as herself and amplifies what already exists inside: wisdom, chaos, humor, leadership. She calls it the spirit of the Taiwanese auntie, powerful and resilient.
For Sandra, drag is a mission. It is a space where she transforms emotion into connection. She gives others room to grow and invites performers to be seen as humans, not characters. Her stage is not escape. It is sanctuary.
People come to see Sandra because her presence is honest. She brings laughter, strength, and emotional truth. Through performance she turns hardship into hope and teaches others that healing can happen in public. Drag, for her, is not disguise. It is recovery. It is direction. It is home.
SHUHUI.BARRY
MY VOICE IS BIGGER IN DRAG.
Shu Hui’s story begins in Taichung, a small stage with a large spirit. She calls herself a princess, pink, bright and tender, yet her confidence fills every room.
Her name comes from her mother’s real name, Hui. By carrying it into drag, she turns performance into lineage, blending memory with identity and keeping her mother alive in every gesture.
For her, drag is not escape but purpose. It is the courage to speak when others stay silent, to turn vulnerability into power. She feels a woman within, yet loves her body as it is. Her transformation is emotional, not physical, a dialogue between the man she is and the woman she imagines.
In a culture still shaped by tradition, she performs to bring joy, to ease fear, to create space. Every sparkle becomes a statement: happiness is a human right.
On stage, she is more than a queen. She is a light. A voice. A reminder that courage can be beautiful.
RICO
I DON’T HIDE, I TRANSFORM.
Rico carries both simplicity and strength in her real name. It is neither masculine nor feminine, but perfectly balanced. She says she was too lazy to invent a stage name, yet her name already holds everything she embodies: confidence, playfulness and freedom.
Born to a Taiwanese father and an Indonesian mother, she grew up surrounded by hair salons and beauty. As a child, she watched her mother style wigs and sew dresses. When told “you are a boy, you cannot do this,” she quietly replied, “why not? we are all human.” That became the seed of her art.
Drag is not a disguise for Rico but a destiny. From school stages to the “Make a Diva” competition, she performed with courage and unpredictability. Goddess one day, zombie queen the next, always herself.
Her strength was built through confrontation. At first her mother feared judgment. Now she proudly says, “this is my child.”
Today Rico wears drag like a uniform of visibility and power. She performs to prove that beauty has no gender and art has no limit. She does not only transform herself. She invites others to do the same.
