The Anatomy of Identity: Breaking Gender Constructs
My evolving series, The Anatomy of Identity: Breaking Gender Constructs, celebrates human diversity. Influenced by bold colorists and social commentators like Sister Corita Kent and pattern master Yayoi Kusama, I've created a grid of squares, each depicting a different form of human genitalia as an audacious exploration of fractal patterns to convey human identity’s infinite variability.
This artwork challenges traditional ideas about gender. Like Barbara Kruger and Jenny Holzer, I use my art to question societal norms and beliefs. The variations of squares showing all configurations of genitalia, including intersex, invite viewers to question their understanding of the gender spectrum. What assumptions do they carry about gender when faced with these images? How do they reconcile this with their binary understanding of gender?
In The Anatomy of Identity: Breaking Gender Constructs, I encourage viewers to consider the richness of human diversity and challenge the idea that society dictates our identity. Our identities are as unique and vibrant as the squares on my canvas.
Through this visual confrontation, I urge the viewer to resist the binary notion of gender as a fixed construct defined by anatomy. Each square in this painting is part of a broader exploration of identity beyond gender, considering factors like race, class, and sexuality. The anatomical differences are only part of the story, merely the mechanical aspect of our identity. Yet, our society has hinged so much of our identities on these minimal differences. We are more than just the sum of our parts; our experiences, emotions, and thoughts make us who we are.