Shaun Crabb, 2025

Abstract

This project, Genderfluid, is a call for liberation and rebellion against our current administration and the legislation that seeks to erase the trans identity from existence. My mural takes the approach of resistance through a self referential figure, who perches in the volatile waves of a stormy sea. They are braced against the pounding walls of water, their position taking a stance of power, and to the top left of this piece, we can see a glow of a sun setting, cascading light onto the ocean as well as the figure This piece was created with interior house paint on concrete and brick, and stands approximately 17’x13’ feet tall. This mural seeks to discuss several themes, tackling them all individually, with its main talking points being about the relationship between our bodies and bodies of water. Water is a vital source for us, it keeps our bodies functioning, but also can be a representation of gender identity and transition. As water cycles through our body, it inherently becomes intertwined with our gender and sexuality, which is constantly changing and fluid. Other themes are discussed in this mural, like the lesbian identity and its place historically, and how this influences the fight for liberation from oppressive forces. Typically, lesbian identities get striked as being a “lesser-sin”, something that isn't taken as seriously as its male counterparts, and often is seen as a “phase”. Through centuries, lesbians have fought in different ways for visibility through art and literature, and oftentimes hid sapphic themes in stories and visuals, even in pious pieces depicting Christ and nuns. I also discuss themes of fatness and fat identity in my work, as fat people have exclusively experienced oppression and erasure. I intersect these two discussions by highlighting the fat female experience, which for decades has grown into a tumultuous relationship between fat female bodies and society's pressures and expectations. I then go on to discuss how the fat female body is a threat to the patriarchy, because it shows living authentically despite what is put in place around you that says otherwise. Overall, my mural intersects the relationships and experiences of fatness, lesbianism, and transgenderism, as while they are all facets of my identity, they are all currently at threat of erasure from our current administration. By using water as not just a representation for transition and gender identity, but also for hate and bigotry and the relationship between it and our society, I bridge the gap between these two and highlight rebellion, resistance, and liberation. It’s important to remain unified and together as a community as the erasure of trans identities becomes more rampant, and through organized rebellion, an oppressive regime can be defeated.