LGBTQ+ Project
The intention behind my artwork is to bring awareness and acceptance of transgender and LGBTQ experiences to the greater public. I aim to capture the thoughts, feelings and daily life as a transgender man in my artwork because these experiences are not always able to be conveyed through words or explanations; it's something that you have to experience to understand.
I hope that by experiencing my artwork, the viewer will be able to have a greater sense of 'knowing' regarding trans and LGBTQ people. We are not so different, mystical or scary; our existence can be as equally frustrating, hopeful, painful and beautiful as anyone else.
This understanding is especially important in today's international political climate, in which the human rights of LGBTQ people are being rapidly diminished.
Gender Euphoria - 12" x 14" - ceramic
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The Grumpy Boob Man - Mixed Media - April 2023
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A Cloud of Dysphoria - ink on paper
5" x 7" - Acrylic/texture medium on canvas
What's in your pants? - digital
The Creation of Man
This piece was inspired by Michelangelo’s famous painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, The Creation of Man. It is meant to speak towards the artist’s frustrating experiences with the regular nation-wide shortages of testosterone. Testosterone is a restricted substance and access to T is strictly controlled. As the hand of God passes a vial of testosterone to the hand of man, it begs the question: Is living freely as yourself a divine right, or is it something that others have the right to offer you – or not?
Acrylic on Canvas, 48” x 24”
Headlines.
Since 2016, trans people have been subjected to an ever-increasing onslaught of headlines that have demonized us and spread hateful rhetoric, misinformation, and the alt-right/religious political agenda. My social media is full of it, the newspapers are full of it, and visual media is full of it. It's been almost TEN YEARS of waking up to this shit. So I created this piece to express my feelings of dread, exhaustion, rage and despondence.
While compiling articles for the hate collage, it only took me 20 minutes to find over 100 articles involving transphobia. There were so many that I couldn't include them all. I easily found examples of transphobia and violence internationally, from the USA, from across Canada and even from within Thunder Bay. Watching it all spinning makes you feel a bit dizzy, which is exactly how it feels to look at these disgusting headlines every day in the first place. My only regret is not making this piece even bigger so that I had room for more articles to really drive home the magnitude of persecution that trans people are facing.
Acrylic on birchwood panel, newspaper collage and custom mechanical parts.
Pride - 10" x 10" - Ink and gold acrylic on canvas
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Scars - 5" x 7" - Acrylic/mixed media on canvas
No Right Answer
You are confronted with two options – a ladies washroom and a men’s washroom. Both are a little unappealing, as public washrooms typically are. But you gotta go, and there’s no time to waste. Which will you choose?
As it turns out, no matter what choice you make, you are wrong. You no longer have the right to self-determine where you belong. For a single moment, you know what it is like to be trans.
This interactive painting aims to confront the viewer with a choice that seems simple on the surface, yet it is a choice that is dreaded by trans and gender non-conforming people all across the world. As anti-trans bathroom bans are increasingly debated, and in some cases are passed, the simple act of choosing a bathroom has become an illegal act. Next time you have to pee, be grateful that this decision is one that you have the freedom to make.
Acrylic on Canvas, 24” x 36”
Push the button — it lights up!