From the Artist:

Ancient Surprise is a series of instant film photographs that explore relationships between queer desire, transness, landscape, and time. They celebrate the prairies, forests and waters in so-called “Ohio” and they also document my transitioning body in a moment of climate crisis and anti-trans legislation.

I deliberately overexposed some photographs and underexposed others, reveling in the way this technique can suggest a glowing subject or a concealed scene, mimicking the flickering I feel between wanting to be visibly trans in some scenarios and stealth in others. I look to plants for guidance as they negotiate when to make themselves available for pollination, when to camouflage and masquerade, and when to mount thorny defenses.

In the time between two photographs, vegetation grows around a billboard depicting the Ten Commandments, leaving visible only “thou, thou,” “shalt, sh.” As politicians use Christian fundamentalism to attempt to outlaw trans people, I see these trees and thistles as our accomplices; we, too, aim to overgrow cisheteropatriarchal rules with a reciprocal ecosystem that keeps us all breathing.

While some photographs remain straight, the majority embody a process of detachment and attachment as they become photomontages, transitioning from one form or season to another altogether.

This event is made possible thanks to the contributions of Culture Works, The Blue House Arts and The University of Dayton Department of Art and Design.