K Sarrantonio

STATEMENT

 

​I am considering the ways in which artists are uniquely positioned to create new gender realities and futures. My work explores the tension between the need for visibility and the risks of exposure inherent in the experience of nonbinary gestational parenthood and queer family life.

 

As a printmaker I am interested in pushing the boundary of the two dimensional image. By screenprinting onto ceramic tile I transfer the images to objects, giving them weight and allowing them to take up more space in the room. I use bitmapped photographs with large dot patterns, contemplating the act of building something from many tiny parts. The use of tile as the substrate recalls the home and interior spaces. The meticulous and tedious process of assembling the pieces references the work of parents and caregivers.

 

Embracing the personal as political, the work documents queer domesticity and family building in images of the body and images of bedrooms. The figurative work shows tenderness and intimacy, while the empty rooms are stark and quiet. The work engages with the fight for queer, trans, and reproductive rights, while recalling historical and contemporary struggles around fetishization, representation and silence.