ROY presents: Carter Sturgeon

Please Give me Room (to exist)

Carter Sturgeon is a Non-binary artist based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Through the idea of agency and taking up physical space, they explore the experience of being a trans, queer person. They explore self-documentation and gender performance as a means of manifestation of space and representation. Poking fun at gender roles and stereotypes they take on these roles as a means of subversion. Their work questions what a non-binary body looks like and what it means for queer people, namely non-binary people to take up space. The name of their current body of work is Please Give Me Room (to exist), and it asks the viewer to consider what it means to give queer people safe spaces and agency. While also providing a space for viewers to reflect on the voyeuristic approach most take when asking about trans experiences.

ROY asks

1. What is your name and preferred pronouns?

My name is Carter Sturgeon and my pronouns are they/them

2. How has art (whether it be your own or art in general) changed you?

I think art forced me to confront a lot of things I was hiding from myself for a long time. It has allowed me to explore my gender and sexuality in numerous ways. Every time I make something I feel like I uncover a new piece of my identity or a new version of myself

3. How did you start your artistic practice?

I really had no intention of becoming an artist or starting an artistic practice. I wanted to be a photojournalist when I first entered college. I had to take a lot of classes that were more focused on conceptual photography though and ended up falling in love with the process.

4. When a first-time viewer sees your work, what is the first word that you hope they think when looking at it?

I think the first word a lot of people think of in terms of my work is confrontational or raw.