2025 Grad Show

Juniper Olive

AUArts Grad Show IMG_0539

Media Arts

Man Purse The man purse is an accessory for the man who wants to carry a handbag but needs one that won’t taint his reputation as the king of masculinity. Made primarily with steel and camouflage embroidered felt, the purse is tough and cool, but it’s also far too heavy for functional use, and requires the entire removal of the ratchet strap to be opened.
Bleed on Me Daddy This wearable crocheted jock strap is a piece created to help me laugh at the absurd things my trans body does and try to find comfort in that absurdity. It helps me connect with my love for the femme and queer sense of masculinity while also treating the parts of myself I have such mixed feelings about with love.
It’s a Dress Now This piece was one of my first that explicitly looked at gender “transformation” through garments by turning a thrifted a polo shirt into a dress. It utilizes primarily secondhand materials, which have likewise taken a new and likely unexpected path. Each sequin was placed and stitched slowly by hand with very little research into the process, instead leaning into instinct, experimentation and play to get the result I was hoping for.
Lovingly Gendered Objects I A dress created primarily from bed sheets for drag performance, a well used Old Spice deodorant encapsulated in pink yarn and purse with a fringe of wrenches. All lovingly considering gender.
Lovingly Gendered Objects II A jock strap crocheted using doily techniques and a gouache painting of my hairy stomach. Both lovingly considering gender.
Lovingly Gendered Objects A collection of art pieces and found objects collaged together to create a space of curiosity, gender fuckery, and overwhelm. The pieces come together to become a give a glimpse into my experience of the world. The blanket welcomes the audience to sit and talk, to consider what their own room of lovingly gendered objects might hold.

Lovingly Gendered Objects

This is a collection of work that has been connected to my relationship with gender in some way. It combines work done throughout my degree and outside of class, many of which have been exhibited at AUArts and at external venues, including a solo exhibition at the Alberta Craft Gallery titled “Gender Fucked”.

Gender is so interconnected in the world, so impulsive, so regulated, so misunderstood, so impossible to really understand. In this work I question how we gender things, people, lives. But also, the ways that being gendered may impact how we exist in the world. I attempt to do this through a lens of trans and queer joy, impacted heavily by my practice as a drag performer.

Lovingly Gendered Objects AUArts Grad Show IMG_0484
Man Purse The man purse is an accessory for the man who wants to carry a handbag but needs one that won’t taint his reputation as the king of masculinity. Made primarily with steel and camouflage embroidered felt, the purse is tough and cool, but it’s also far too heavy for functional use, and requires the entire removal of the ratchet strap to be opened.
Lovingly Gendered Objects AUArts Grad Show IMG_0483
Bleed on Me Daddy This wearable crocheted jock strap is a piece created to help me laugh at the absurd things my trans body does and try to find comfort in that absurdity. It helps me connect with my love for the femme and queer sense of masculinity while also treating the parts of myself I have such mixed feelings about with love.
Lovingly Gendered Objects AUArts Grad Show 20221213_203114
It’s a Dress Now This piece was one of my first that explicitly looked at gender “transformation” through garments by turning a thrifted a polo shirt into a dress. It utilizes primarily secondhand materials, which have likewise taken a new and likely unexpected path. Each sequin was placed and stitched slowly by hand with very little research into the process, instead leaning into instinct, experimentation and play to get the result I was hoping for.
Lovingly Gendered Objects AUArts Grad Show IMG_0546
Lovingly Gendered Objects I A dress created primarily from bed sheets for drag performance, a well used Old Spice deodorant encapsulated in pink yarn and purse with a fringe of wrenches. All lovingly considering gender.
Lovingly Gendered Objects AUArts Grad Show IMG_0541
Lovingly Gendered Objects II A jock strap crocheted using doily techniques and a gouache painting of my hairy stomach. Both lovingly considering gender.
Lovingly Gendered Objects AUArts Grad Show IMG_0548
Lovingly Gendered Objects A collection of art pieces and found objects collaged together to create a space of curiosity, gender fuckery, and overwhelm. The pieces come together to become a give a glimpse into my experience of the world. The blanket welcomes the audience to sit and talk, to consider what their own room of lovingly gendered objects might hold.

This site may contain artworks with provocative content that some viewers may find uncomfortable or upsetting. AUArts supports a culture of non-censorship and ongoing conversations about contemporary art.