& i tell my students

& i tell my students: it’s hard to make art while you’re hiding, was a show about queerness at Brigham Young University. I was the Visiting Artist at BYU’s Art Department for the 2023-2024 academic year. 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.

Interviews with current queer BYU students came through speakers in columns, which I installed and built to match the architecture of the gallery. 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 interview audio which was originally an hour long.

Prior to the show opening, I invited the queer community connected with BYU (current students, alumni, or employees) to “paint” the gallery walls, using printed stamps. Therefore, leaving their presence in the gallery (however unseen) during the show.

Time lapse of the participatory event.

During the show, I was also daily present 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 some of my story of reconciling with my queerness.