Artist Statement
My Transgender ‘Scrapbook’
This series of works, titled My Transgender Scrapbook, draws from Brown’s life experiences as a transgender man and incorporates text and imagery inspired by Brown’s mom’s scrapbooks which filled his family home. It incorporates his background in printmaking alongside his appreciation for collage and mixed media works. Each of the four works represents a different time period in his life; which starts with infancy, and moves through high school, progressing to his coming out and difficulties finding resources and support during the global shutdown cause by the COVID-19 pandemic, and finally coming to a height with his current life after receiving transgender care and later moving to Milwaukee in 2021. The works incorporate photographs from those time periods as screen prints, scratchboard works, and photo collage materials. The third work, however, includes none of those as many photos were never taken or did not survive his coming out, and instead is represented by a text summary of Brown’s memories of the time. This series of works was created with the intents and purposes to share one person’s queer and transgender experience in modern life. Whether that is to stand as a space for other queer individuals to consider their histories or for outsiders to the community to embrace one transgender story out millions; including those whose lives have been cut short due to violence. This is meant to serve as a space for viewers to consider their impact on the transgender community, and hopefully serves as a place for other transgender lives to be considered and learned about.
