Sequinette Jaynesfield, often referred to simply as Sequinette, is an American female-to-female

drag performer The term "drag" refers to the performance of exaggerated masculinity, femininity, or other forms of gender expression, usually for entertainment purposes. A drag queen is someone (usually male) who performs femininity and a drag king is someo ...

and

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. She also works as a make-up artist and stylist for herself and other performers. She is the founder of the Coney Island Sweetheart Pet Pageant, an alternative

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the Physical attractiveness, physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of Per ...

for pets that raises funds for various

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevit ...

charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

Career

In 2009, Sequinette starred in

Michelle Handelman Michelle Handelman (born 1960) is an American video installation artist, filmmaker, photographer, performance artist, writer and professor. She is an associate professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and currently lives in Brookl ...

's 2011

video installation Video installation is a contemporary art form that combines video technology with installation art, making use of all aspects of the surrounding environment to affect the audience. Tracing its origins to the birth of video art in the 1970s, it has ...

, ''Dorian, a cinematic perfume'', alongside

Armen Ra Armen Ra is a Persian-Armenian artist, self-taught thereminist, production designer, director, and performer. Musical career Career (2010-2013) Ra began studying the theremin in 2001, debuting with the orchestral group Antony & the Johnsons in ...

, playing the titular character. In 2011, Sequinette starred in ''Unleashed by Garo'', a

reality television series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

with

Garo Sparo Garo Sparo is an American couture design house based in New York City. Its founder and head designer is Gary Spampinato, who goes professionally by Garo Sparo. Sparo is also a television personality who has starred on ''Unleashed by Garo'' on the ...

Sundance Channel Sundance Channel can refer to: * Sundance TV, formerly known as Sundance Channel (United States). * Sundance Channel (Canada) * Sundance Channel (Netherlands) * Sundance Channel (Europe) * Sundance Channel (Iberia) * Sundance Channel (Asia) * Sunda ...

, in which she portrayed herself Sequinette later expanded into analog filmmaking working with 16mm and

super 8 film Super 8 mm film is a motion-picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement over the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format. The film is nominally 8 mm wide, the same as older formatted ...

, processing film herself in many cases, and hand-painting directly onto the negative. She has created several short films, including ''Queen Down'' (co-directed with NYC artist Heather Acs), ''Rack Focus'', ''Cello Screen Test'', ''Lifestyles of the Bitchin' Famous'', ''Good Queen'', and ''Broken: Battle of the Goddesses''. Her films have screened in New York, San Francisco, and Austin. In 2020, Squinette earned an

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts a ...

from the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximatel ...

. Later that year, her film ''Good Queen'' was selected to feature in a video art projection in Times Square as part of San Francisco Art Institute's 150th anniversary celebration.

Awards and nominations

In 2008, Sequinette competed in and won Murray Hill's eighth annual ''Miss Lez Pageant'' at the Zipper Factory in New York. In 2012, she was crowned Miss Drag Coney Island.

References

External links

Selected scenes from "Dorian, a cinematic perfume"
{{Authority control Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Musicians from Brooklyn American female models American make-up artists 21st-century American women