Gwen L Kelling

 

Sculpting fulfills my life-long aptitude to pick apart machines, investigate their inner workings, and harness their power to transmute materials.  As a trans woman, I have spent the past several years directing that same inquisitive drive to repair and restore my own body and life. My current methodology is devoted to developing visible languages for my personal trans experience, as well as confronting the sociopolitical mechanisms currently in place to “fix” queerness and reinforce patriarchal gender roles. My intent is to produce physical manifestations for these mechanisms so that I may address them as mechanic and restorer, seeking out metaphorical resolutions that are sympathetic to my trans siblings and insightful to any audience. My sculptures are hybrid biomechanical objects that refer to my trans body as a system equally subject to re-invention, disrepair, routine maintenance and major overhaul as the tools and machines that sustain my artistic practice. 

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