Diane Morales
she/they
Austin, TX, USA
Kristin "Diane" Morales, is a Hispanic queer activist artist that focuses on women, LGBTQIA+ and minority rights, particularly in bridging the gap in communication between certain issues and their impact.
“This piece is exactly, 8 cm long, 5 cm wide, and 4 cm deep. According to the National Library of Medicine, that is the average size of a human uterus. Politicians are trying to make laws based on philosophical questions of what a woman is. These conversations about gender and gender expression seemingly boil down to what sex organs you were born with. However, that erases the experience for women regardless of the possession of this organ and its function. With these conversations in mind the artist created a ‘woman’ by making this box, the same way Diogenes made a man by plucking a chicken.”
What does being queer mean to you in relation to your material choices? Is it something you consider?
“My material choices don't necessarily have a relation to my queer experience, when it comes to my art, I try to find ways of closing the gap of communication between people. I would hope that these pieces start the conversations, eventually allowing me to add more materials that reflect queer history so they can see and understand the struggle of being treated equally. I wanted to have the building blocks that can facilitate greater positive conversations with LGBTQIA+ and equality in general."
"Womens Glass Box", Plexi glass and copper, 3.1" x 2" x 1.6", 2023Is the work queer because the maker is queer, or is it queer because the subject matter is queer?
“The piece alone is not only a queer matter because it is also a women's health/rights. However, with the artist coming from the queer community the art is inherently queer because it's still based on the artist's own queer experience and perspective."
Anything else you would like to share about this work? This can be an important part of the process, sourcing materials, or research.
“My pieces are a reflection of my experiences, this piece is no exception. I started researching this topic with therapy and the exploration of what it feels like to be a genderqueer female presenting with a fickle uterus, trapped, cold, isolated, and even chained. Often, I feel as if I have no say in my body, and many others especially in the LGBTQIA+ feel the same. And since the laws and policies around the United States seem to be trying to answer, what makes a woman. Therefore, I created what seems to be what they've been obsessed with a uterus-sized object somewhere on a person to be used as a label."