Artworks

Renelda Kuhler was a journalist who frequently visited Rocaterrania to report on its culture and political developments for The New York Times. She became close friends with famous ballet dancer Janet Lingart and with university student Lisa Hauffenstauffer, who married Renelda’s brother Ronald L. Kuhler in 1951 (Renaldo’s birth name, legally changed to Renaldo in 1967).

Personal Significance:

For Kuhler, Renelda served as a feminine alter ego and meta-narrator of Rocaterrania’s history. He said he often wondered “what it would have been like to be a woman,” and regularly shaved his body – everything below his ample beard and long hair tied in a ponytail. “I like to be smooth and sexy all over. I especially love long, smooth, sexy legs.”

Influence:

Renaldo studied photos of himself taken in photo booths and feminized the features.