Featured Artist | Bux Dhyne

Bux Dhyne | Grand Rapids, MI
@blacklacecupcakes

Biography:

Bux has a BFA in Illustration (and a Minor in Traditional Photography) from Kendall College of Art and Design that was completed in 2007. They have worked in the design, art, and illustration industries since then. They are a feminine head of household figure to three children, a costumer, a performer, and a local queer advocate in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They identify non-binary and Pansexual. They are currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Painting (also at KCAD), their research and thesis focuses on gender representation and destroying the gender binary. Their goal is to become a professor and speaker where they can continue to pass on their love for the arts, the importance of activism through art, and an erasure of the gender divide.

Artist Statement:

In my work, I explore the themes of hyper-femininity, gender constraints, and related gender roles. Our ideas of gender have been created by a set of tropes, standards, and fallacies that carry the labels of feminine and masculine. There is a silent contract that we have agreed to as a society, by unknowingly subscribing to the benchmarks set by past generations. It also established an aspect of control that has initiated a world of inequity and discrimination by the division of gender roles.

The work I create, primarily paintings, has a heavy focus on color and often involves multiple mediums including fabric, glitter, sequins, and decoupage; all crafting items that are traditionally feminine or related to women’s hobbies. Including the variety of mediums that I do gives me the opportunity to control the emotions and symbolism I am including in the piece.

It is my intent that when my art is viewed, regardless of one’s level of art education, each viewer is able to enjoy and relate to the art. The audience should consider their life and the lives of their fellow humans in a profound way. Art is the bridge between our mental world and our physical one, it’s how we can communicate our pain without spreading it, it’s how we learn we are not alone, it’s how we move on and up.