My jewelry-making practice is heavily influenced by my own identity and experiences as a queer transgender person. Queer bodies exist as political and social battlegrounds and sites of public contention. My own queer body is a site of great personal discomfort. I must always be conscious of my body and its presentation in heteronormative spaces. Through my work I want to explore the discourses surrounding the physical presentation of queer identity, and the passage of time in relation to the queer body.

Nature is always in a constant cycle of change, growth and decay. I use natural materials such as wax, wood, and honeycomb to reflect delicateness and impermanence of form. The imagery of flowers, bees, and the human body signify aspects of queerness and queer community. I use the language and techniques of craft to portray the crafting of queer identity, and the eclectic methods of queer community building. Craft is often thought to be in a category separate from art. Craft is full of contradictions of itself, and works as an agent of disruption- disrupting the current norm of consumerism, disrupting the polished aesthetics of fine art, disrupting the monotony of conformity. To me, this disruption and alternate focus makes craft an inherently queer medium- both queerness and craft contain a perception of “otherness”. In my work I use semi transparent fabrics and embroidery to obscure and abstract, as well as to define and accentuate.

Through these natural materials, delicate forms, and the transformative processes of craft, I look to embody the softness of daydreams and the beauty of the individual and collective queer body.

@noelstrohm ///  p.n.strohm@gmail.com