Opening March 20th in the Alternator Project Gallery is Right to Exist by Samantha Wigglesworth!
Right to Exist is a series of work that explores contemporary issues around gender expression, specifically around the increasingly violent and hostile tide of conservative rhetoric we are experiencing in North America currently and its social and political implications for gender nonconforming bodies.
Wigglesworth works to give people across a spectrum of gender expressions a platform by painting portraits of them; seeking to visually tell their stories and advocate for their right to a safe existence. Through painting portraits of trans and gender nonconforming people, Wigglesworth represents their powerful humanity in contrast to a dehumanizing and hateful surge.
Advocating for gender expression as a positive and liberatory act, they ask audiences to reexamine their preconceptions of gender and their judgments, challenging them to see how they might contribute to change. Ultimately, they want their art to be the representation that they so desperately craved growing up. They are very grateful that this series was funded through a grant from the BC Arts Council, as it was immensely important to be created and shown in this moment, as it will be more impactful. The hateful rhetoric against gender non-conforming individuals is spreading into Canada and across BC. Wigglesworth created these works to show that these people are human and need respect, through depictions of the sorrow and pain inflicted on them for just needing to exist.
Join us on March 20th from 6 - 8pm for a triple opening reception, as we celebrate alongside Woojae Kim in our Main Gallery and Kel Taylor in our Members’ Gallery.
Samantha Wigglesworth is a queer, nonbinary gender-queer artist who works primarily in queer, transgender and gender non-conforming representations through portraiture and abstract figuration. Growing up in conservative northern BC and moving to Abbotsford for their BFA at UFV was an eye-opening time for their artistic journey. While doing their BFA in Abbotsford, Sam had several exhibitions in the area, including a solo exhibition titled Spectrum, which has been shown all across BC. After graduation, Sam decided to continue their studies with a Master of Fine Arts at UBCO in Kelowna in September of 2024. Here, they have been working on their research thesis to further explore contemporary issues around gender expression with the increasingly violent and hostile tide of conservative rhetoric we are experiencing in North America. Through these works, they will advocate for gender expression as a positive and liberatory act.