Complicating Visibility: Celebrating Disabled and Transgender Identity Through Visual Art
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Authors
Blue, Rora
Issue Date
2024-04
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Installation , Sculpture , Photography
Alternative Title
Abstract
I live in a body with bones that ache, a heart that beats twice as fast as everyone else’s, and fingertips that go numb. Most of the time my body does not feel like mine. Gender dysphoria, coupled with conditions that impact my vision leave me looking down at my body as if it is someone else’s. This is not a tragedy; it is simply a fact of my existence.
Queer and disabled people are often viewed as unnatural. I respond to this in my work through using natural materials and imagery of the outdoors. My sculptures, photography, and installations reposition the queer and disabled body as being synonymous with nature. Outdoor spaces can be inaccessible, and it is important for me to reclaim my body’s relationship to the environment.
I introduce an alternate trans-disabled reality by utilizing transgender and disability-specific medical objects that are commonly disposed of or hidden away. Through the overlaying of photographs on top of hospital fluorescent lights, weaving flowers in between bandages, and suspending images of the sky within IV bags, I propose a world in which bodies like mine are cared for and celebrated.