ARTIST STATEMENT: 

This installation explores my experience of being trans-non-binary and the ways in which aesthetics and adornment have impacted how I experience myself every day. I am introduced to myself again and again, building a new relationship. Some days masculine, some days feminine, some days completely disconnected from my body, and others completely connected. 

My experience of myself is ever-changing; there is a constant encounter of societal expectations that demand I be static in the form I’ve been given. The ceramic tiles are heavy like armour that conceals and protects. Made with my hands, they individually hold a permanence, an artefact of time; however, when connected together, the unforgiving material is made fluid, remaining in dialogue with the body to which it was made for. 

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY:

Lex Hilderman (they/them) is a queer trans interdisciplinary artist working on Mohkinstsis Treaty 7 Territory, also known as Calgary, AB. They received their Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art + Design with a focus on Social Practice and Community Engagement. Later, they received their Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Calgary with a concentration on gender, family, and workplace issues. Their work explores the relationship between materials and the body, especially focusing on concepts of binaries, heteronormativity, compulsory experiences, and the expectations, standards, and normative practices embedded in the physical experience of being human. 

Instagram: @lex_hilderman