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This is a curated exhibition that displays artworks by a myriad of modern-day women and trans people that exist outside of the binaries. Our society tends to see things as black and white, right or wrong, male or female. Humanity and it's intricacies cannot be defined by binaries. Sex is not the same as gender. Many identities exist outside of the binaries society imposes, but they are largely under represented. This exhibition is an attempt to represent 21st century artists who exist outside of the binaries, specifically those who are what society would assume to be a cis-woman, but identify otherwise. It is also in effort to bring about questioning and deconstruction of society's binaries/boundaries.

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Indira Allegra
Paper, Crepe.
18 x 36 x 48 in
2019

Indira Allegra's pronouns are They/Them. This piece appears to look like a sack with a thin opening exposing many scraps of paper. One can assume these scraps of paper are bits of writing Allegra has written and tossed to the side for the past 23 years. Little information can be found to give a definitive idea of what this piece means, but is that possibly the point? What caused Allegra to define these writings of theirs as bad?

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Indira Allegra
Tulle, Cowhide, Acrylic, Steel
15 ft x 15 ft
2019

"A microverse of queer, femme materiality" -indiaallegra.com
Bright pink tulle balls with bits of black hang from the steel cieling posts. One hangs off to one side, two hang off to the other with a separate black structure hanging below. The two pink and black tull pom pom fixtures with the black structure below look like an abstract depiciton of ovaries and fallopian tubes. Female sexual anatomy represented with feminine associated dress material- tulle. However, the black cowhide material that makes up the black fixture and the steel contrast the pink tulle. What do you think the contrast of black and pink, tulle and steel, represent?

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Indira Allegra
4-Channel Audio Installation
174 x 154 x 110 in
2017

"An immersive exploration of the memory tumors hold and then disperse when cut from the body and incinerated." indiraallegra.com

A dark room, lit only by one small shred of light on a corner of the floor. The light has 3 layers of brightness. Breathing sounds is all that can be heard, exhales. Is a tumor only something that grows in the body? Or can it be more...a memory... a part of society?

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Queer Women and Non-Binary/Gender Non-conforming Artists 

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Queer Women and Non-Binary/Gender Non-conforming Artists 

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To start the exhibition we took a look  at Indira Allegra a non-binary artist from Oakland, California. Following them we'll look at two queer women artists- Tschabalala Self,and Sable Elyse Smith. All of these artists are Black in the United States. It is important when discussing under representation and challenging society's standards and stereotypes that BIPOC are centered in conversation and representation.

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Tschabalala Self
Oil, flashe, acrylic and fabric on canvas
84 x 72 inches
2018
Out of Body Exhibition- ICA Boston

Another human figure by Self layered with texture. The limbs of this figure stretch far. Your eye may be at first guided to the pelvic region, where many textures curve around eachother into a vaginal shape. The face of this person looks quite masculine and the arms are dark with sharp hands. All human beings come out of a uterus through a vagina and into the world, the significance of this is not lost in this piece. What does the vagina mean to you? Is it linked to gender? How do you deconstruct that?

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Tschabalala Self
Oil and fabric collage on canvas
72 x 60 in
2015
Out of Body Exhibition- ICA Boston

Self is a queer woman who uses she/her pronouns. She lives in Harlem, New York and creates these large-scale figurative paintings. This is one of her works that show human form's in an abstract way. Seen in this image are two humanoids with large buttocks and breasts. There is a wide array of colors, with the brightest and most contrasting of which in the left figure. So many textures are coexisting in this piece. What makes a figure look like a human? Is it simply in the body, or is it also in the expression of that body? What is a human being if you took out having a body from the definition?

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Sable Elyse Smith
Screen printing ink and oil stick on paper
60 x 56in
2018

Smith is a New York based writer and artist who uses the pronouns she/her. Her works are social commentary on society and the system's way of ignoring certain narratives, especially Black individual's. At the center of every social justice struggle is Black and Indigenous individuals. This piece exemplifies how there exemplifies the strict guidelines of our society, and that you don't have to stay inside them to create something beautiful. They are created on coloring books given to kids visiting the incarcerated. She uses color outside of the lines to comment on the social injustices in the U.S.

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Yishay Garbasz
Photos, steel, markolon, motor, light, wood, foil, cloth
300 cm x 230 cm
2010

"to shatter the stereotypes of before/after of transgender lives" -Yishay Garbasz.

A look into transitioning one's sex from male to female. Another binary that exists in our society is Before and After. What comes between those could be, arguably, as important as the results. Yishay explores her transition and protests the binaries that society imposes with her art. This piece is like a digital flip book showing Garbasz's body's changes during her transition. The photos were taken over 3 years.

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Yishay Garbasz
fromaldehyde-protected testicles removed during gender affirmation surgery
2011

A cringe-worthy site for some, scarring for others, this piece gives reality to the process of transitioning from one sex to another. The amount of time and bodily trauma it takes to transition is often overlooked or used against those who choose to transition. The amount of money it takes to transition and the way society looks at those who do impacts many people's decision and emotions on the process.
How do we challenge the stigma around transitioning and make information about it and the process more accessible?

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Yishay Garbasz
Photograph, multiple exposure self-portrait
2002-2003

There are 4 total pieces in this collection, this is just one of them. With the negative space taking up so much of the photograph, the human form is seen only in tid bits. Lights directly hits a body, a side profile can be made out. Golden brown locks of hair next to an arm raised, a chest covered in a t-shirt that is wrinkled with the upward motion of the arm. What does your brain use to translate what it sees ? What makes you assume someone is she or he or they? How do you deconstruct that?

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Nancy Brooks Brody
Ink on newsprint
Paper: 8.5 x 11 in
2011

Nancy is a New York artist, and this piece is part of an exhibition that took place in 2014, SUITES IN SPACE. Nancy is a trans woman and uses the pronouns she/her. This piece encapsulates the human body in abstract form using photography. There are two bodies making different shapes inside of percieved containment.

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Though these pieces are all so different, they are united by the queer women, trans women, and non binary artists that created them. I hope it made you question the binaries imposed on us a little more than you averagely do. Thank you.