micah bazant
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| Honor the Dead and Fight Like Hell for the Living giclée print of watercolor painting, 8×11” Support Monica Jones giclée print of watercolor and ink painting with digital text , 11×17” Liberation for All of Us giclée print of watercolor and ink painting, 12×16” Remember Trans Power, Fight for Trans Lives giclée print of watercolor painting, 11×17” |
| Artist’s Statement These pieces were created to honor the lives and leadership of trans women of color, to protest violence against trans feminine people of color, and to challenge transmisogyny and racism within LGBTQ movements. The images have been shared tens of thousands of times online, used by news media, carried by protesters, and I sell them to raise funds for trans women of color led organizing. As a white female-assigned trans person, I’m clear that I owe my life in part to the work of trans feminine people of color who have always been on the front lines of queer liberation struggles. I try to work in partnership with the people and communities I represent, and to contribute culturally and materially to their freedom.The first image is a portrait of CeCe McDonald, who fought off a racist, transphobic attack and was sentenced to 41 months in a men’s prison. The piece was created for Transgender Day of Remembrance in 2013, to help reframe the event towards life and resistance, instead of being the one occasion when trans women of color are remembered, and then only after they have been killed.The second image was created with and for Monica Jones and the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) in Phoenix, Arizona. This image helped SWOP bring significant media attention to her case and shift public opinion. Monica recently beat her charges in court, and she continues to speak and organize for sex worker rights.The third piece was created before Pride 2014, as a tribute to Marsha P. Johnson. Marsha was a Stonewall veteran, a co-founder of Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, and a lifelong activist for trans youth, homeless and incarcerated queers, sex workers, and everyone who didn’t fit within a gay assimilationist politic.The fourth piece was created with the TransJustice program at the Audre Lorde Project, for Transgender Day of Remembrance 2014. We wanted to continue to reframe this event, by showing trans power, resistance to police violence, and love between trans feminine people of different generations and gender expressions. |
