Hedreen Gallery Exhibition, 'Embodiment: Gender in The Expanse'

• April 7 through June 15, 2022
• April 14, 5-8 p.m.: Opening Celebration
• May 24, 6 p.m.: Public Conversation with Professor Jodi O’Brien and Artists Natalie Krick, Barry Johnson, Hanako O’Leary, and Rafael Soldi in Wyckoff Auditorium, Seattle University

Embodiment: Gender in the Expanse

Curated by Arielle Simmons

With vulnerability and empathy, artists Natalie Krick, Barry Johnson, Hanako O’Leary, Rafael Soldi, Kali Spitzer and Anthony White explore the expanse of gender with their practice. Expectations of gender and sexuality shape our social landscape. Acknowledging that gender is performative, rather than anatomical, how does our physical embodiment contribute to our gender identity? How can we engage the socially constructed qualities of our gender identity, if at all? Approaching themes that are essential to our sense of self, Embodiment examines the relationship between our internal truth and external positionality.  Each of these artists inspire and encourage us to bravely self-determine. 

Guest Curator Arielle Simmons’ current research interests include the ethical praxis of curation and documentary photography as well as the aesthetics and performance of gender. She was raised surrounded by art and artists in South Carolina, with a French mother and American father. From them, she adopted the development and programming of their long-running artistic retreat to her family’s home in the Jura Mountains of France. Working as a photographer, she was a Critical Mass Finalist and exhibited in solo and group shows across the country, including: Photo LA, The Light Room, and Magenta’s Flash Forward Festival. She holds a BS in Communications Studies from Emerson College, attended the New England School of Photography, and is an MFA Arts Leadership Candidate at Seattle University.

 Images, right to left: Embrace by Rafael Soldi; Veils by Natalie Krick; So What by Barry Johnson; 1200 Spirits by Hanako O’Leary; FEEDBACK by Anthony White; beyon wren moore by Kali Spitzer