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Transcending the Binary explores queer liberation and expansion from gender binaries in order for all people to exist as their authentic self. Through my art I hope to contribute to the liberation of people from the binary norm that does not honor their truth. Rather than limiting gender expression and promoting gender dysphoria, I hope to show a vision of a utopian world where one can be themselves fully and openly. Gender is not clearcut; it is abstract and evolving. My work mirrors this attitude of questioning and visualizes liberation from the binary through transcendance to acceptance. 

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Binary gender concepts born out of colonialism and oppression limit exploration of self and authenticity. Explosions of color in my work mirror my view of the queer community and the richness non-binary and other queer people bring to the world. Color honors freedom of expression and sense of self through celebrating individuality. 

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My work looks beyond the surface of the human form at the internal structures that intertwine us all. Though individuality can be celebrated, my work elucidates the bodily systems that keep our bodies functioning and are relatively universal among all of humanity. I dismantle the human form into component parts, symbolic of the deconstruction of gender binaries, then reconstruct abstract androgonous figures. 

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My work blurs the binary through a celebration of androgyny, mixing masculine and feminine forms, textures, colors,  and materials. By combining traditionally feminine forms with masculine features I hope to show the natural beauty and validity of bodies regardless of the identity of who inhabits it. I celebrate angrogony through use of a material traditionally viewed as masculine, steel, in the welding process. I have found through the process of learning to weld that it simultaneously enhances mascline and feminine energy. 

 

This work has guided my own exploration of gender identity, allowing me to feel confident in celebrating my angrodony as a non-binary individual. It has pushed me to think deeper about the societal norms that surround us, how they came to be, and how I can change them.