Is Gender Working for You?
Portraits of Gender Deviant People Through History
Santa Cruz MAH June 1-2, 2024
Is Gender Working for You? is a series of portraits of people who have deviated from the gendered rules and expectations of their time. The exhibition askes viewers to examine what they have sacrificed for the gender binary.
Each portrait has a unique QR code connected to a video of the process used to carve the portraits, as well as a voiceover biography. Viewers are encouraged to write their own responses to the titular question in fluorescent ink.
The linocut medium allows the artist only two choices: positive and negative space. The simpler the image, the more imagination is required of the viewer. How does your mind fill in the details? Why does it choose the details it does? Do you see yourself in any of these portraits?