Part Three: Towards a T4T Creative Methodology
Introduction
The essay you are reading is three of a three-part series about my experience living and working as a trans artist and arts professional in Saskatchewan and across Canada. In part one of the series, which you are now reading, I give a brief overview of the current state of trans art and artists in Saskatchewan and identify some of the challenges faced by these cultural workers as they struggle to make ends meet and be taken seriously by their cisgender colleagues. In part two, I offer what I see as a necessary step towards solving these problems by thinking through some of the trans spaces and methodologies I’ve encountered in my ten-plus years of being out and working/making work. In part three, which you are currently reading, I reflect on my recent performance, I Don’t Want to See or Be Seen by Cis People, which debuted at Queer City Cinema/Performatorium in Regina. This performance was, in part, a testing ground for my own ideas and methodology around interiority, and it serves as another example of how trans joy and futurity can be fostered through creating a closed space.
This series of essays is, largely, grounded in my own personal experience. If it doesn’t resonate with you, consider how your positionality might differ from mine, and if you’re cisgender (not trans), remember that believing trans people’s experiences is a vital first step in building solidarity with the community. Such solidarity building is revolutionarily necessary as all of our struggles are intertwined. Nobody is truly free until we all are.
I Don’t Want to See or Be Seen by Cis People
I Don’t Want to See or Be Seen by Cis People is a multi-part performance exploring trans joy and futurity. The phrase I don’t want to see or be seen by cis people is a play on OK Cupid’s “I don’t want to see or be seen by straight people” setting which allows users to filter out everyone who isn’t interested in same sex partnerships. I Don’t Want to See or Be Seen by Cis People is comprised of two events, a performance/t4t party that is only open to the Two Spirit, trans, non-binary and gender nonconforming (2STNBGN) community, and an accompanying workshop for cisgender people about exploring the limits of their embodied gender. Together these events work to create a space of trans interiority, an alternative space for expression outside of cis-hetero norms/open up a space for non-cis, non-heteronormative expressions of desire and self.
The workshop portion of the performance is about doing and taking seriously the unseen, theoretical labour 2STNBGN people often do in order to understand and explain themselves. Participants are guided through a number of writing exercises and discussions that help them unpack their feelings about their gender identity and expression. Many workshop participants come away with a deeper understanding of western gender systems as well as their own gender, describing a sort of opening up, a new awareness and understanding of the expansiveness of gender beyond a cis/trans binary. One of the biggest takeaways from the Toronto iteration of this workshop held at Buddies in Bad Times’ Rhubarb Festival was that one can experiment with their gender expression – wear different clothing and accessories, change their hair style, body language, etc. – without that inherently meaning that they are trans. It’s about following that feeling of joy within yourself and your gender (gender euphoria) and becoming more comfortable in your own skin.
In my invitation to the party portion of the performance I ask my guests the following questions/give them the following prompts: What would you do in the absence of a cisgender gaze? What would you wear? (Wear or bring your most euphoric outfit to change into!) How would you move your body? (Dance like no one’s watching!) During the party, guests are invited to join me in lounging on a bed installed in the space where I’ll read their tarot as a way of talking about the future. Mainstream narratives of transness are almost always of the present moment and trans people often struggle to situate themselves within a lineage and project themselves into the future. Towards the end of the party I deejay a dance party for my guests giving them the opportunity to move their bodies in a non-judgemental space free from prying cis eyes.
T4T as Creative Methodology
While I’ve long considered trans people to be my primary artistic audience – indeed, they’re often the only people who fully understand my work – I Don’t Want to See or Be Seen by Cis People represents a new turn in my creative methodology as it places my community front and centre. It’s a love letter to the people who sustain me. Whereas in previous performances like [BRICK], I’m speaking to cis people on behalf of my trans community while making visible our struggle or labour, in I Don’t Want to See or Be Seen by Cis People I’m creating a space for the community to come together outside of cis-ness, a space in which to find joy in each other’s company and dream of our collective future.
This is the beginning of what I’ve been calling my T4T creative methodology. I’m interested in what will happen if I apply the lessons I’ve learned through working with Tender Container and CAPACITOR to my creative practice. How will my work shift as I continue to deprioritize cis-ness? This, of course, goes much deeper than how I conceptualize my audience. How can I challenge the cisgender gaze and the way it interacts with my work? What does it mean to uphold trans ways of knowing and being over cis ones? In my figurative painting practice, these questions have led me towards developing a more collaborative framework for creation, one where the subject has a say in how they’re represented.
Conclusion
Being a trans artist in Saskatchewan is difficult. We live in a culture of cis-supremacy and divesting from cis-ness is the only way to create arts organizations that are truly equitable for trans people. While cis-led organizations can’t implement T4T as a framework on their own (T4T requires a by-and-for ethos at every level), I think it’s crucial for these groups to look towards T4T projects and organizations for guidance in making sure they’re operating in service of a trans liberationist politic.
More plainly, fund and support T4T projects where you can and use them as a way to open up space within your organizations for trans people’s futures, their lives and livelihoods. This opening up of space will change your institutions for the better, making them more inclusive, more culturally relevant, and more capable of bringing forth a sustainable and liveable future, not just for trans artists but for everyone who’s part of Saskatchewan’s arts ecology.
[1] By trans I mean that, when I was born, everyone said I was a boy. I was never able to live up to the expectations of this particular gender role and I was punished for it from a very young age. In my twenties I began transitioning and was pushed, by doctors and community, to be femme and identify as a woman. Indeed, this was the only way I could access the healthcare I so desperately needed. In my early thirties I began presenting more masculinely. I still describe myself as a woman, largely for political reasons and as a way to push back against rigid gender norms. I don’t really care what people think of me. My pronouns are she/they/or he in the context of being a butch dyke.
Left: Documentation from: Jaye Kovach, I Don’t Want to See or Be Seen by Cis People, Rhubarb Festival, 2024. Photo credit: Tyler J. Sloane.
Right: Documentation from: Jaye Kovach, [BRICK], Dunlop Art Gallery, 2022. Photo credit: Leo Keiser.
Part One: On the State of Trans Artists and Art in Saskatchewan
Part Two: Tender Containers and Building Capacity for 2STNBGN Artists in Saskatchewan
