This five-piece series is titled, “Friends of Dorothy”, and was painted in 2015 using acrylics on canvas. These brightly coloured, stylized paintings are portraits of the friends and lovers of the artist, don trupp, lost to HIV/AIDS between 1987 and 2001. With each portrait, don trupp endeavoured to capture the ‘spark’ that made the lives of these men- his friends and his lovers, momentous and unique.
Read MoreThe felt-sense experience of piercing the image causing disruption but leading into the reparative process of mending the image into something new... Ryan visually investigated the duality of harm directed towards and within the Queer community. Symbolization is found in the plants chosen (perceptions: harmful or helpful), how individual/community proceeds forward and focus on the reparative process to find growth/meaning.
Read MoreIn my artwork process, I talked through my thoughts on my own identity, and trying to understand the world around me and why it was so hard to find a path to follow. I worked from no set landscape, and no concept, so that I could bring forth an authentic self-discovery onto the canvas.
Read MoreThere are very few truly natural places left in this world and the hearts of many human beings are cold with apathy. Kai Cheng’s story was a perfect metaphor for our current state of being and the pure simplicity of the solution to all our problems which has always been and will always be love.
Read MoreThe piece uses fragments that tie in drug user agency, psychedelic healing, decolonization, neurodivergence, language barriers and art/science/academic elitism. The piece itself dancing between personal narrative, journalistic reporting and editorial candour present itself as an organism, complex and multifaceted. In this way it represents the summit, its participants, and our movements.
Read MoreIbanez-Carras makes some strong points in his conference presentation regarding how queerness has been mainstreamed by the heteronormative and neoliberal legitimization of HIV research... In reflecting on the changing players of HIV activism and research in North America, Jesse brings forward the imagery of AIDs activism of the 80s and early 90s.
Read MoreConflict Revolution consists of a 5:54 minute audio composition and a PDF file… these gentle conversations, some during nighttime walks or snowstorms, meandered through self-reflection; the resultant audio piece is a translation into a purposefully obscure artifact that marks the occurrence. That hidden performance, the space between the conversants…is the “reconstruct” aspect of this project.
Read More‘dialogue.’ is a 2-channel video piece that takes on the form of a character exploration skit, written and performed by myself… “how do you feel pressured to perform masculinity from within the queer community?” …pointed towards opened a lot of space for a nuanced discussion about social pressures that are created within queer communities to happen.
Read MoreThis is a statement on hope, connection, and growth for future systems of care that is rooted in my own reflections on growing up in care as a trans Indigenous youth. jaye simpson…spoke of care not being the responsibility of children and envisioning a system where people would work together to support them instead.
Read MoreThis piece, No Binaries No Boxes, is about the ways that research (and society in general) often ask us information about our genders, without involving us in deciding how those questions are asked or what the answers are... This piece challenges us to think beyond binary notions of gender as a society, and also to recognize the ways that sometimes even within 2SLGBTQIA+ community research we continue to put ourselves and our communities in boxes.
Read MoreTaken together, the presentations begin to co-articulate a provisional queer decoration politics…which led me to conceptualize a series of cosmetic, multicolour pretty-paintings…The implications are profound when queers, architects, engineers and designers, health workers, and inhabitants meet. New forms of life, new living situations, new world designs are possible when this happens.
Read MoreAs a trans man Gender Euphoria has been a struggle for me. Gender as a fluid concept with both light and darkness and how gender roles are applied inspired the colour palette with form drawn from introspection and discovering what makes me me and what makes me happy in my own skin
Read MoreAt the (Summit 2020: Resistance and Responsibility) Conference I was inspired by Rahim Thawer’s presentation, “Ambiguous (Pandemic Feels)” and Syrus Marcus Ware’s presentation, “Activism as Speculative Fiction- Making Change For The Future”.
Read MoreColours of Identity is taking ownership of who I am, who we are, and not standing down against any hate, discrimination, anti- racism, etc.
Read MoreCreating this piece reminded me of how scared I was to come out and how much weight was off my shoulders once I did. That feeling of being true to yourself, it’s the best!
Read MoreInspired by Rahim Thawer’s presentation, “Ambiguous (Pandemic Feels)” and Syrus Marcus Ware’s presentation, “Activism as Speculative Fiction- Making Change For The Future”
Read MoreAt the (Summit 2020: Resistance and Responsibility) Conference I was inspired by Rahim Thawer’s presentation, “Ambiguous (Pandemic Feels)” and Syrus Marcus Ware’s presentation, “Activism as Speculative Fiction- Making Change For The Future”.
Read MoreThe diverse nature of the LGBTQ2+ community facing once again a global pandemic came through to me in Nathan’s words. They formed a round in my mind, “This is not our first rodeo. No one story tells it all. We have strengths and can support each other, after all… this is not our first rodeo.”
Read MoreInspired by Rahim Thawer’s presentation, “Ambiguous (Pandemic Feels)” and Syrus Marcus Ware’s presentation, “Activism as Speculative Fiction- Making Change For The Future”.
Read MoreInspired by the Integrated Panel: Changing the Narrative on HIV and STBBI Testing: Innovations and Community Reflections.
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