Hyperallergic Interviews Three Alums for Their Pride Month Series

School of the Art Institute of Chicago alums Tara Asgar (MFA 2020), Cassidy Early (MFA 2020), and Duff Norris (BFA 2015) share their artistic explorations of trauma, loneliness, and loss in three interviews for Hyperallergic’s Pride Month Series.

Asgar, a queer Bangladeshi artist, narrates her investigations of trauma, death, and loneliness through art. Asgar has been at the grassroots of mobilizing the local LGBTQ+ community to challenge the oppression of queer youth. Barely surviving an assassination attempt by radical extremists, Asgar was forced to relocate to the United States. In her work, the artist scrutinizes the mundane, formulating a reality where her trauma and death are no longer exceptional. 

Early, a Chicago-based trans non-binary painter, grieves the death of their mother through the lens of still life. Introducing the yellow paper installation as an ever-present element of their exhibitions, the artist commemorates their mother’s attempts to record her life in illegible writing moments before passing. The artist’s paintings feature elaborate symbolism pulled from their idiosyncratic worldbuilding, echoing Early’s captivation with Dungeon and Dragons. 

Norris, an interdisciplinary artist from Brooklyn, challenges the conventional perception of masculinity through portraiture. In his search for a new definition of masculinity, Norris investigates the notion of manhood by recreating the iconic composition of Michelangelo’s Pieta, holding different trans men in his lap. He links trans-masculinity and the divine while uncovering the harm experienced by the trans community and spotlighting trans-masculine motherhood. 

All three artists emphasize the importance of mutual support and acceptance and call for an end to the physical and political attacks on the queer body and identity.

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