My current works address the complexities of the gender binary, by exploring how gender is not only engrained in our minds, but also incorporated into many dimensions of our shared surroundings. This installation highlights that non-cisgendered individuals are forced to make uncomfortable choices, within certain spaces to avoid further discomfort and potential harm.

In the main installation, veils of layered plastic partition the space in a swirling maze-like fashion, trapping visitors in an emotionally disorienting labyrinth. The synthetic nature of the material alludes to the artificiality of many of the spaces we inhabit. Additionally, the intense lighting and blurred distortions of the moving human form through plastic serve to evoke a sense of suffocation and potential danger in the viewer’s mind.

Additionally, a series of photos, framed within an X-ray lightbox, seek to explore how these ill-defined identities are often misunderstood, due to the natural fluidity of gender. The artificial nature of reality acts as a veil, obscuring the human form from clear view, thus refusing the body’s presence as something to be accepted or recognized in this unnatural environment we exist in.

The installation may cause visitors some stress but can also provide a time for reflection. Thus, the ultimate aim of my works is to instill a sense of discomfort in the viewer and to highlight the feelings of otherness that marginalized individuals experience on a daily basis.

Project partially funded by an Arts & Creativity Grant through the Bucknell Arts Council