Exploring the kinship between gender affirming Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), herbal life that supports hormonal shifts, and the chemical based process of sunprinting (cyanotype) ; with time to grow is a meditation on the power and potential of waiting.
This body of work engages sunprinting as a process to highlight different plants and herbs that are well documented through herbalism research to support human hormonal shifts. with time to grow considers how processes such as sunprinting, or planting a garden, conceptually reflects the process of HRT. Each of these acts require intention: the planting of a seed, the mixing and coating of a chemical, the injecting of a hormone, and above all, patience. These processes can be unpredictable, they can fail, but they can also create space for something beyond belief.
Waiting itself is a resilient act, and growth struggles without it. with time to grow asks us to think about what environments are necessary to facilitate that growth, who we keep around us to nourish and water us, and how we might survive in these apocalyptic times through decelerated intention and care. Here, I propose that waiting, meaning to linger, dwell, or remain, may be a productive method in seeing, knowing, and feeling oneself and others deeply.
Included in this installation is a collection of seed paper cards, produced in collaboration with artist Sacha Stephan. I crafted the cards with seeds from oregano, fennell, sage, and geranium plants. Sacha screen printed the cards with visuals and text including details about how to grow and harvest these plants, and the types of hormonal shift they support (estrogen or testosterone boosting). This collaboration is an important act of trans kinship; intended to live on and grow through the gardens of its participants. Research for these herbs and their hormone shifting potential came from open source research documents, which are linked below. We are grateful to this research, and look forward to the future of an investment in alternative trans healthcare modalities.
All of the pieces in this installation are supported by heavy industrial metals. I chose these materials as an intentional juxtaposition to the process of growth within hostile architectures. Accessing care as a trans person is experienced as a lesson in working within a system built to work against you. Regardless, trans people have continually survived, created culture, and offered alternative visions for the future. Visually, this is an homage to trans resilience and our ability to thrive, and continue to plant seeds under dystopian circumstances.
I hope with room to grow offers you a space to think about how we treat our collective bodies, and our neighbours; the earth, the plants, and each other. With this project I ask: how are you showing up for yourself in spaces you feel unwelcome? How recently have you thanked yourself for your commitment to growth? How do we create space for trans people to flourish, and what is your role in that ecosystem?
with love,
m
Acknowledgments:
The Canada Council for the Arts
Sacha Stephan
Erin Brookbank
Holistic Health for Transgender & Gender Variant Folks, Dori Midnight
(link: https://www.berkeleyherbalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Midnight_D_Transgender_Care.pdf)
Transgender herb garden : An MtF guide to disconnecting one's self from big pharma, FlyingOtter
(link: https://digitalcollections.library.miami.edu/digital/collection/zines/id/1185)
Installation at SPAO Gallery, for “to scatter seeds”, curated by Katie Lydiatt