& i tell my students

I was a Visiting Artist at BYU’s Art Department. As part of that position, they ask you to do a solo show in your last semester.

My work is often place-based. It is centered in listening to a place, and listening to what it surfaces in me and my body. This show was no different. It came from that same process: of listening to a place and listening to what surfaced in me.

For the show, I installed columns built to match the architecture of the gallery. Interviews with current queer BYU students came through speakers in the columns. This meant viewers had to lean in, pressing their ears to the wood to hear and understand the voices. The following video is an edited version of the interviews.

Prior to the show opening, I invited the queer community connected with BYU to “paint” the gallery walls, using printed stamps and white paint.

Therefore, they left their presence in the gallery (however unseen) during the show.

Time lapse of the participatory event.

Also during the show, I was present daily in the space at a select time, to talk to viewers and hear their life experiences.

At those times, I did a slide projector performance (video below) that shared my story of reconciling with my queerness.