Drag-queen-horsegirl persona Ryder Cowgurl returns in Das Einhorn des Ritters (The Knight’s Unicorn). As always, Ryder Cowgurl is jumping from universe to universe. Following Sydney Lingenfelter’s BFA thesis show My Pony Died, Ryder Cowgurl embraces her alien identity in Das Einhorn des Ritters. My Pony Died introduced Ryder Cowgurl’s arrival to Earth, taking on human form to become an advocating and outrageous force. In Das Einhorn des Ritters, Ryder morphs into a therianthrope- half human, half unicorn- in which she becomes a vessel for contemplative, redemptive storylines.  

Das Einhorn des Ritters uses Lingenfelter’s background in horsemanship and German heritage in tandem with the Brothers Grimm tales as the inception for confusing, haunting narratives across multimedia works. In a rare visual, we see Lingenfelter appear as themself in Ich Kann Nicht Mehr (I can’t anymore). In the show’s title piece, Das Einhorn des Ritters (The Knight’s Unicorn), Lingenfelter appears again ambiguously as Ryder Cowgurl and themself.

Unicorns and knights are often used as symbols for purity, moral goodness, and bravery. Lingenfelter explores what it means to play both the part of the knight and the unicorn. The folklore goes, unicorns are typically drawn to virgin women because of their historically perceived “purity”. Knights, however, are often chivalrous male figures. Das Einhorn des Ritters plays with the idea of a knight as a drag queen and a queer body, alongside a unicorn tamed by the aforementioned knight, despite being contrary to the folklore of “purity”.

Not only is this series an exploration of the ways Lingenfelter jumps universes, but how the obscurity of time and place transforms wounds. The past, perhaps, is not something we transcend, but experience time and time again, through the nonlinear distortion of time. Ryder Cowgurl questions what we distinguish as reality. She acknowledges the power in acceptance- we can be all things, we can change. There's always a door to another universe.

Thank you to Janna Maris at Zabhaz to hosting this show.