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Title: Autopilot

Artist: Evan Yerian

Materials / Medium: Digital and Film photographs

Dimensions: 3 vertical/portrait photographs at 11''x14'' and 1 horizontal/landscape photograph at 14'''x11''

Artist Statement: The easiest response to an uncomfortable situation is sometimes to do nothing at all. If these traumatic moments are never identified as such, they become the norm. When the normalized trauma causes extended episodes of dissociation, a disorienting veil is brought down that leads to doubt, confusion and dysphoria about one’s purpose in life. The question of what remains of one’s physical presence while dissociating, and the discourse around the question, were central to understanding my own journey with understanding my trauma. I worked with an idea of presence and an acknowledgment of a body or form when there is no actual physical body or form present. I think that the attempt to be present, while being very obviously dissociative, is where I find myself.

Title: a body poem / a poem of bodies / a body of poems

Artist: Sheyla Dorantes

Materials / Medium: Digital

Dimensions:

Artist Statement: This poem was inspired by Natalie Diaz and her investigations of the body as parts that make up a whole. The intention of the poem was to deconstruct the word "body," to use it so many times and apply it to so many different things that it would lose its meaning. In losing its original meaning, it opens the possibility for it to become something completely new, something solely your own. This poem also recognizes that some bodies are inherently dangerous bodies, and how this can change the way people feel in their own skin. I hope that this poem can prompt people to think about what parts make you who you are. I hope people like me, who are still unsure of themselves, are able to deconstruct what they think of themselves and make it something new and beautiful.

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Title: XOX

Artist: Leanne Robinson

Materials / Medium: Ginko leaves, roses assorted, lavender, acrylic paints, hot glue

Dimensions: 14 x 11 in

Artist Statement: I'm inspired by Susie MacMurray and the garments that she makes out of non-traditional materials like dressmaker needles, and pink balloons. Her work explores femininity and the relationship between strength and vulnerability. I wanted to commemorate my time in our rose gardens with a textural vase. The layers of swirling petals create an intricate flow of color and shapes. The flowers are more delicate the closer you look. So in my detailed images, I am able to capture the nuance of each carefully orchestrated bloom. I want to decentralize the outcome of my hard work and emphasize the creative process. When I focus on outcomes I can become overwhelmed with anxiety, pointing out all the ways my work falls short of my expectations. When I center artistic outcomes, I forget all the labor and effort that goes into each project. Smelling the rose bouquets I would take into zoom calls helped me ground myself. The entire process of gardening and caring for my flowers gives me a ritualistic practice to uplift my spirit when I feel overwhelmed. In baths, in candles, sprinkled around me at the park during breaks, rose petals have accompanied me while I process stress. So this project celebrates my self-love process and makes visible all the small moments of rest and relaxation that have helped me cope with chaos. She is named after one of my favorite songs by IAMDDB.

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Title: Pools in My Hues

Artist: Leanne Robinson

Materials / Medium: India Ink, Colored pencil, Ballpoint pen, Sharpie

Dimensions: 11 x 14 in

Artist Statement: This drawing is inspired by Denisse Ariana Pérez and her photography series "Men and Water II." I love the sense of flow and peace that she captures in her portraits. My color palette consists of browns, blues, and blacks to give a nod to projects like Pérez's and Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight. I share their attention to blackness in the earnest and peaceful moments. My piece features draping textures that mirror the classic seated cross-legged meditation posture. Flowing fabrics comfort and warm me during mindfulness practices. Layered robes allude to royalty. My blackness deserves to be nurtured and praised; clothing is one of the ways I routinely show my appreciation to my body when I am feeling weathered by stress. Empire waist silhouettes were brought to my attention by Kim Chi and Shea Coulee and I want to bring the spectacle of layered voluminous fabrics into my meditative practice. This piece is the ultimate visualization of a person cloaked and adorned with rich robes, sitting and finding stillness through connection to nature and ancestry. I wanted this visualization to be anti-binary so this silhouette decentralizes form-fitting fashion. The garment is accessible to all people and encourages fluidity in the way that we present ourselves to the world. Exploring restfulness, recovery, royalty, peace, and pride are all elements of the intergenerational healing I have been pursuing and this piece is an ode to that journey.

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Title: Flight Over Femininity

Artist: Quincee Lark

Materials / Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 2' x 3'

Artist Statement: This particular piece explores an imagined landscape of femininity, specifically of the female experience as seen from a flight above. I was inspired to create this piece after noticing more profound congruencies between myself and my mother— and other femmes in my life— in our experiences of daily life, contortion and conformation to gender stereotypes. This work utilizes texture as a narrative device. Scratches on the canvas surface, for one, are subtractive, abrasive and representative of removal. The feminine experience is one of reduction, In many ways; of shrinking, of subverting needs, of minimization of felt experience and trauma, and even more superficially with the removal of hair, wrinkles, weight, imperfection. In contrast, areas where texture is built up is symbolic of the additive processes of the gendered experience. The layering of pink, black and flesh toned impasto is remiscent of the application of makeup. The flow of the work is temporal, following the rush of a day, and the contortions that the female psyche undergoes throughout its course in order to maintain an impossible balance of too much versus too little.

Title: Impulse

Artist: Seth Moriarty

Materials / Medium: Digital

Dimensions: 22.25x19.5 in

Artist Statement: My gender and my presentation are, as can be imagined, heavily intertwined. It was the realization of my own lack of gender that gave me the courage to experiment with my presentation; cutting my hair off in the sink, seeking HRT, and getting top surgery, while also wearing skirts more often.
Likewise, my lack of gender has led to frustration: frustration with how others perceive me and what they assume about my gender because of my clothes, my body, and my voice. What feels liberating to me can feel painful when others force a binary lens onto it.
In my pieces I wanted to explore those feelings. My genderlessness has allowed me to thrive, and become a happier me. I am learning to be more unapologetic in my identity, and to be true to myself despite society's expectations of what I should and should not be. I wanted to explore those feelings with my art. My first piece, Impulse, pays homage to the time I first cut my hair short, after questioning my gender for months. I felt instant relief. My other piece, Choose One, explores my discomfort with the labels others put on me. The "Problem: Transsexualism" at the center of that piece is in my own medical file. However, that piece also represents my growing confidence with myself in the face of that discomfort.

Title: Choose One

Artist: Seth Moriarty

Materials / Medium: Digital

Dimensions: 22.25x19.5 in

Artist Statement: My gender and my presentation are, as can be imagined, heavily intertwined. It was the realization of my own lack of gender that gave me the courage to experiment with my presentation; cutting my hair off in the sink, seeking HRT, and getting top surgery, while also wearing skirts more often.
Likewise, my lack of gender has led to frustration: frustration with how others perceive me and what they assume about my gender because of my clothes, my body, and my voice. What feels liberating to me can feel painful when others force a binary lens onto it.
In my pieces I wanted to explore those feelings. My genderlessness has allowed me to thrive, and become a happier me. I am learning to be more unapologetic in my identity, and to be true to myself despite society's expectations of what I should and should not be. I wanted to explore those feelings with my art. My first piece, Impulse, pays homage to the time I first cut my hair short, after questioning my gender for months. I felt instant relief. My other piece, Choose One, explores my discomfort with the labels others put on me. The "Problem: Transsexualism" at the center of that piece is in my own medical file. However, that piece also represents my growing confidence with myself in the face of that discomfort.

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Title: Perfect Wife, Perfect Life

Artist: Ruthie Hall

Materials / Medium: Digital photography, Canon T7i

Dimensions:

Artist Statement: This body of work focuses on the expectations set upon women to perform femininity and perfection. It enmeshes the intense societal pressures that a 1960’s housewife would have faced through a modern-day lens. Women during this time were expected, and sometimes forced, to maintain an image of perfection and happiness for the sake of their families, while they were oftentimes crumbling on the inside,(separate) struggling with drug addiction, loneliness, and domestic violence. The narrative of the woman depicted in these photographs is one who stays home, trying her best to keep the house clean and make a perfect dinner, just to please a man who makes no attempt to care for her the minute he walks through the door. Her yearning for love and affection from him increases her drive to perform femininity and to be the perfect wife. His lack of love blinds her from reality, so she can only fall deeper into this rabbit hole.
The pressures that women now feel to maintain an image of beauty, health and happiness can be extremely damaging to the psyche. With media images and influential figures telling us how we should look and act, we are left questioning anything about us that doesn’t fit into these confines. Women are constantly told they are lacking in some aspect of themselves, and if left untreated, we can spend years desperately trying to fill this void, in order to please others.

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Title: Couch Ppl

Artist: Leaves + Grass

Materials / Medium: Gouache, digital

Dimensions: 2x2 feet

Artist Statement: Originally I made a single one of these pieces simply, because I thought it was "aesthetically pleasing" and I was eager to learn to use my new gouache paints. That being said, as I often do, I was inspired to create a message with this work. That is when I went on to make two more pieces presenting the same message through all three of the paintings with different characters presenting different sexualities and races. I fully intended for these pieces to portray to my audience that all humans really are different, and that that is what we all have in common/makes us all the same. While I know the portrayal of a sexual act in the work can be distracting for many, I hope my audience has the opportunity to look past that, and see what else the work can say. That being said, I hope my audience also doesn't take the work too seriously, and can enjoy it aesthetically as well. On simpler terms, along with portraying a message, I also love making work with bright colors and I enjoy portraying human beings and the emotions we all go through in life. In my opinion, these three pieces are good examples of work of mine that does that.

Title: Leech

Artist: Clementine Gunter

Materials / Medium: Watercolors, pen on watercolor paper

Dimensions: 9x12 inches

Artist Statement: I don’t experience gender as something internal or innate, so for me womanhood is a burdensome obligation that was placed on me without my consent. Womanhood is a violating experience, it obscures the person in favor of the body, and requires that I always prioritize the comfort of others over my wellbeing. This piece is intended to express these feelings about womanhood, and to explore themes of bodily suffering, reproduction, trauma and lack of identity.

Title: Holding Close

Artist: Eva Szoboszlay

Materials / Medium: Ink and Watercolor

Dimensions: 12 x 18 in

Artist Statement: Holding Close evokes the sometimes overwhelming feeling of existing inside of an emotion or memory in the moment before surrender. I am interested in what it feels like to give and receive care where it has previously been absent. What needs to shift for caretaking and caregiving to feel like love and interdependence? What does trust feel like when practiced out loud, even and especially when trust is painful? Which keys are missing or hidden away, or don’t exist yet? I think a body can be a safe; a mind can be a safe. Trust can be the fixed state of opening what was closed, but also a softening into ease, permeability, and interwoven relationship.

Title: Forest Walk

Artist: Eva Szoboszlay

Materials / Medium: Ink and Watercolor

Dimensions: 9 x 12 in

Artist Statement: Forest Walk is a meditation on both the trivial and heavy weights we carry everywhere, close to our chests. While painting, I was thinking about a way to make the invisible records of our bodies and minds external. A coat lying close to the skin with pockets to store heavy moments strikes the balance of the rigidity and flexibility of memory. The stones can be removed, but leave the marks of stretched and well-worn fabric stitched to fit. The absence of weight doesn’t erase the memory. A comforting scene becomes mysterious and possibly foreboding with the addition of shadowy hands. Are they gently placing a stone in her pocket, or removing it? Is she walking on without noticing, or running away?

Title: Portrait of a young man in green

Artist: Grace Wenzel

Materials / Medium: Digital painting software

Dimensions: 20"x27'' (1500x2000 pixels)

Artist Statement: The inspiration behind this piece is very personal to me as I have a long-standing love of 19th century fashion and art. It is a kind of self-portrait, an idealized version of myself; a co-opting of an art movement dominated by cisgender men. The version of myself here is a representation of "gender envy," a feeling which many of my trans siblings will know well; I use symbols to represent this (the colors yellow and green, the broken mirror, the hyacinths on the waistcoat). The mirror is also meant to signify how the masculine ideal is impossible to attain. I wanted to have the audience think about how trans people / trans bodies are represented in classical art, and ask why we as trans people don't get to be the "romantic artistic ideal" in the same way that cis people do.

Title: Mirror, Mirror, Disappear

Artist: Sarah Bourn

Materials / Medium: Bic black pen on recycled sketch paper.

Dimensions: 5.5 in x 8.5 in

Artist Statement: I drew this piece when I was in the height of body dysmorphic and self-image issues. At the time, I was thinking of the myth of Narcissus, being fixated with his own appearance to the point of his own death. I remember feeling as if I was being narcissistic to consider my appearance so heavily. I remember going into the bathroom multiple times an hour, just to look at my face, pick it apart, splash cold water and scrub away what looked wrong, and feeling as if a sinister energy was behind me, preying on my vulnerability. Looking back, I realized that my self confidence issues do not stem from inherent narcissism on my part, but rather by growing up in a culture that places the emphasis on beauty, thinness, and perfection. The bombardment of these images from a young age are to blame. I have been able to overcome these feelings by understanding the deeper implications of insecurity as a marketing tactic.

Title: Exit

Artist: Sarah Bourn

Materials / Medium: Mechanical pencil on recycled sketch paper.

Dimensions: 5.5 in x 8.5 in

Artist Statement: This piece was created out of the frustration and emotions I have towards my sexuality, as well as close friends and their journey with sexuality. Mostly, this piece reflects my aversion to labeling myself, and rather just following my heart. By following the exit signs, I can escape the swirly-twirly pressure and anxiety thoughts that can come with being told to label myself. However, the scary part of escaping is the door closing behind you, and having to face your truth everyday, rather than lying to yourself. The exit door also symbolizes the escapist mindset that comes with following your heart, rather than following what is “supposed” to be good for you.

Title: Your Brain Speaks, Your Face Shows

Artist: Sarah Bourn

Materials / Medium: Mechanical pencil on recycled sketch paper.

Dimensions: 5.5 in x 8.5 in

Artist Statement: This piece is an exploration of how I censor myself day to day. I have the face that I show, but at times I feel as if I have another head locked inside my brain. As I live with this second mind, it seems so loud and obvious, but I have to remember that not everyone can see and feel it as I can. This piece was also created after reading the following quote by Elana Dykewomon, “Almost every woman I have ever met has a secret belief that she is just on the edge of madness, that there is some deep, crazy part within her, that she must be on guard constantly against ‘losing control’— of her temper, of her appetite, of her sexuality, of her feelings, of her ambition, of her secret fantasies, of her mind.”

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Title: Time Stamps

Artist: Sophie Schwarzenbach

Materials / Medium: Masking tape

Dimensions:

Artist Statement: For this piece, I was interested in documenting the trace of a body in a room as well as time spent in a room over a two week quarantine period. I found the lighting was best in my room from four to six in the afternoon, which corresponded with my lowest energy levels. I asked my roommates to use that afternoon light to trace the shadow of my body onto the floors and walls of my bedroom every day for two weeks. I would then retrace and preserve these marks with black masking tape, creating a trajectory of accumulated silhouettes. During this time in isolation, I felt compelled to explore my identity outside of the company of others. I am also interested in the ways these traces imply both the presence and absence of a body.

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Title: Becoming a Sexually Liberated Me - a zine

Artist: Caitlin Chow-Ise

Materials / Medium: Handmade zine using art and photography by Caitlin.

Dimensions:

Artist Statement: This zine was created because of an itch to get emotions like anger out of my system. In a never-ending attempt to be understood, I decided to be vulnerable with folx through this zine. This zine is about me, and asks lots of questions of identity. It is up to you what you find most salient within this piece. I just thank you for sharing in this vulnerability with me.