Gender Variant: Stage 3

The final artwork in the series of 4 mixed media distressed paintings about transgendered people delves into language and “gender nonconformity.” The painting has 12 layers at this stage, and will have at least 4 more over the entire surface after which I will be working on smaller segments of the surface to completion. There is no way to know what the painting will look like when finished because of the unpredictable nature of this process, though I do use some line, color and shape toward the end of the process to superimpose order onto the accidental nature of the work. The painting is done mostly in blues, red and pink at this stage because pink and blue are the colors of the transgender flag.

Can you find the miss spelled words? I am the worlds worst speller, and I must check everything several times. Also, as I age my spelling is deteriorating. I missed 2 in this stage. Since it will be painted over and distressed I am not overly distressed (pun intended) about them because they will probably be hidden. However, I best be more careful in the next stage of the work.

Trans Woman Heroes: Next to Final State

I am overcome with distress (pun intended)

As I create these mixed media distressed partially digital art works I’ve learned so much about the heroism of trans people and their fight for recognition. I learned that they are no different from the rest of us, with that one small exception; they are born in the wrong body. By way of example, black trans woman Lucy Hicks Anderson, pictured in the top of “Trans Woman” was tried for marrying her soldier boy friend. They were taken to court, fought the US government over her trans status, and were convicted of perjury and fraud by Federal courts. They were both imprisoned. She died at age 68 in 1954 still living her life as a woman. She was a trans woman hero as were all the other women pictured in the painting.

About Process

In the final steps of this painting I will make a small 2” square centered within the larger distressed pale blue square. This smaller square will include the “Trans Woman” headline. However, I’m not sure of the colors I will use, nor how or whether I will distress the definition and the text in the square. Perhaps that little square will contain 2 or more layers of digitized torn paper sandwiched between distressed layers of paint, and laminated into the montage. Also, there will be torn stripes of actual glitter enhanced photographed glitter laminated around and through portions of the entire painting. These are process questions and I will make decisions as I continue my work. I do know that the end of this process is in sight.