This is art that enriches my graphic design practice without necessarily being related to graphic design. Many of these have more open-ended briefs and are more related to my personal practice and life.
“Reclamation” Book Collage
Featured in George Fox University’s 2023 student art exhibition, this piece is about reclaiming religion while also coming to terms with religious trauma. Using a thrifted hymn book and illustrations from a scientific encyclopedia, I filled a page titled with my old name (“grace”) with images of growth, death, and rebirth in the natural world.
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Gender dysphoria is the distressed that occurs when one’s physical appearance is not in congruence with one’s internal perception of their gender. In May 2023 I was able to receive gender affirming top surgery (a double mastectomy) to relieve this pain. The following two projects are related to emotionally preparing for that procedure.
“Dear Post-op Self” Zine
This small zine was created to prepare myself for the mental strain of receiving gender affirming top surgery during May 2023. I challenged myself to work completely physically with only pencil and micron pen, in order to keep the illustrations simple and authentic.
“Saying Goodbye” Ceramic Performance Piece
“Saying Goodbye” was my way of acknowledging the pain my chest has caused me and say goodbye to that part of my body. Made with unfired clay and underglaze, the piece is modeled after my own binder, a compression garment that I wore for almost four years to masculinize that appearance of my chest. While binding relieves the mental pain of dysphoria, it often causes physical pain if worn for too long, so saying goodbye to it was bittersweet. The years carved on the front represent roughly how long my post-puberty chest had been with me, and the illustrations carved into the back represent the different ways they impacted my life and mental state.
The culmination of this piece was filming myself spraying it in water and watching it crumble and wash away. Below is a web friendly version of that video: