During my master's I have recognised three painting strategies that I continuously use in my practice. These are: cut, assemble/put together and cover. This essay aims to reflect on how each one of these strategies are linked to painting as practice and gender-affirming treatment. It is also a proposal for how these strategies can operate as trans resistance and resilience. 

-

The cut is simply a cut. But it is both a noun and a verb and that changes everything.

The assemble or put together is to assemble or collage. To put things together is to allow coincidence in the work itself. To invite coincidence into my work and process is a way to create space for radical suggestions that could not be imagined or planned.

The cover is at this moment the most ambivalent strategy. It  reveals what cannot be hidden, what haunts you. It can also be embarrassing or even dangerous, like trying to cover something also implies a great risk of the covered or hidden to be revealed. This part is not only about the realistic threats and fears of trans lives, more importantly — to cover someone with a blanket, to cover for someone or to seek cover.