Advisor: Lorena Salcedo-Watson

CLARITY

Clarity is a series of prints that explore the shift I have experienced throughout my life. The prints follow my transition as a transgender man with an emphasis on the past three years. I use self portraiture as a way to express issues of gender, transphobia, and sexism. While my work is autobiographical in nature, it also provides a space for anyone else who may be looking for an outlet to express themselves. Repeated imagery and collage reinforce the importance of living my truth and getting to know the most authentic version of myself.

Laced with underlying emotions, each self portrait serves a different purpose in my exploration of self. Creating each work serves as a meditative process, allowing me to reflect and understand what I am feeling. As you travel through the work, the overall theme remains the same: no matter what I present as on the outside, the qualities of my character do not change. If anything, I have watched myself become a better version of myself and I have found peace in who I am. This show invites you to join me on my journey as well as confront your own thoughts and biases. I ask that you enter with an open mind and take your time as you view the work.

In winter of 2020 I created my first ever print: GRL PWR. It’s a bold linocut printed in pink and blue; colors that traditionally represent the gender binary. The woman is depicted with short hair, which I had recently adopted. The obsession with gender spiraled from there, most of it centering around the shift in the way I was viewed and treated based on my decision to cut my hair.

Title: GRL PWR, Date: 2020, Dimensions: 12” H x 9” W, Medium: Linocut

Title: GRL PWR, Date: 2020, Dimensions: 12” H x 9” W, Medium: Silkscreen

Following GRL PWR came a drypoint etching of my nude figure in a bed of flowers. I created this out of frustration with society’s view of me. The unrelenting comments about my short hair and grown out body hair only continued. My expression is peaceful in the image; I was not allowing anyone’s opinions of me change how I chose to represent myself.

Title: Untitled, Date: 2020, Dimensions: 24” H x 18” W, Medium: Drypoint on Plexiglass

Moving on from there, I created the woodcut, F Gender, as a bold statement of how I felt about the gender binary at the time. The message is clear: f*ck gender standards and expectations.

Title: F Gender, Date: 2020, Dimensions: 7” H x 5” W, Medium: Woodcut

The COVID-19 pandemic allowed me a lot of time to reflect on my identity. The COVID-2020 series shows my feelings of being unable to fill the space that I wished I could during the pandemic. In the busy city of New York, I remain a silhouette of what I wished I could be.

Title: COVID-2020, Date: 2021, Dimensions: 10” H x 24” W, Medium: Aquatint Etching

Self-Portrait depicts me finally seeing myself as who I wanted to be. I started testosterone four months prior to this, causing my body and face to transform into who I was actually supposed to be. This image shows me finally starting to feel at home in my own skin.

Title: Self-Portrait, Date: 2021, Dimensions: 20” H x 16” W, Medium: Lithography

Freedom to Bloom was created in May of 2021, showing me as I fell more in love with who I was becoming. My tattoos have evolved with me in my transition, symbols like the feminism symbol only becoming more important to me as time passes.

Title: Freedom to Bloom, Date: 2021, Dimensions: 18” H x 24” W, Medium: Lithography

Throughout the earlier part of my transition I spent a lot of time feeling embarrassed of photos of me from when I was younger. I visually seemed to be a girl and that didn’t align with who I truly was. I no longer feel that embarrassment and creating these images of my younger self helped me find peace in who I was in relationship to who I am now.

Title: Untitled, Date: 2022, Dimensions: 10” H x 8.5” W, Medium: Lithography

Title: Still Me, Date: 2022, Dimensions: 28” H x 22” W, Medium: Lithography

Not Man Enough is the most recent work I’ve created. It’s satirical in nature, as I don’t think there is truly a way to be “man enough.” Some people will never see me as a true man solely based on the gender I was assigned at birth. I created this print as a way to show what little value other people’s perceptions of my gender has on me. I am living as the most authentic version of myself and that is the most important thing.

Title: Not Man Enough Date: 2022 Dimensions: 24” H x 18” W, Medium: Lithography

While creating all these self-portrait works I had to ask myself, “why?” Why am I creating images of myself? Who wants to see pictures of me and my journey? I eventually reached the answer that someone out there needs it, including myself. A lot of the time, I’m creating work because I need it to help me process through a certain moment or feeling.

On top of that, someone is going to walk away from seeing my work and have gotten something that they needed, or someone is going to ask themself questions that they’ve never thought of before and learn something. If any of those things happen, then I’ve succeeded.

You can find installation photos as well as my Artist Talk below for a more detailed explanation of my work and exhibition.