k8e sage

MFA Visual Arts

k8e sage is a queer, non-binary, Irish/English trespasser based in so-called "Canada". They are an artist, curator and educator who has immense gratitude to work and play on Waawiyatanong territory (Windsor, ON). They are a graduate of the University of Windsor's Visual Arts MFA. They have been involved in artist-run culture for the past 10 years, serving as curator for the Ministry of Casual Living in Lkwungen territory (Victoria, BC) for 3 years and previously served as President and Vice President of Artcite Inc.’s Board of Director's. Wearing many hats, they also currently serve as a juror for the Polaris Music prize and produce a weekly queer music program on CJAM 99.1 FM called iN/RaiN-BoWS.

For more of my work visit: https://k8esage.com/

how do I inhabit what I inherit?: embodying the queer archive

For me, queer is both an adjective and a verb. As an adjective, queer refers to my non-binary gender identity, sexual orientation, and worldview. While as a verb, queer suggests disruptive, transitory, or cathartic practices within my work. Queer archival practice does not steer away from the intimate or vulnerable but is unapologetically personal. The archival strategies at the heart of my process constitute a certain reverence and care for these things, whether through photographic practices, breaking, reconstructing, or collecting.

Transgender, asserts Susan Stryker, “need not refer to one particular identity or way of being embodied” (2, Steinbock). This definition honours and embraces the notion of change at the heart of my work. All of the work within this thesis explores or celebrates change, as a means to connect with and generate trans aesthetics. “Trans ontologies are process-oriented, rather than object-oriented” (12, Steinbock). My work utilizes video, photography, and photographic processes to explore the cathartic, disruptive and transitory through inherited momentos/keepsakes.