creating irl trans community through artistic expression
Working Goals:
How do we accomplish it?
- Create opportunities for transgender artists
- Establish representation + normalization of trans bodies in art
- Foster connective, creative, & in-person community
How do we accomplish it?
- Quarterly Art Shows featuring trans artists with no barrier to entry - all works are accepted
- Monthly Life Drawings - trans models, trans artists
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
The t4t Art Collective is about giving transgender artists a chance to exhibit work, expand their skills, and build trans community.
In an increasingly digital age, IRL community becomes harder to find, and our sense of isolation increases. The majority of trans organizations have been support groups or suicide hotlines - we seek to intervene upstream and build our community up before these things are necessary.
We offer monthly trans-only life drawing sessions, transFIGURE, at the Parallax Art Center. In a room of exclusively trans arts and trans models, we can render and see ourselves in our own image, with minimal concerns of presentation or gender politics. We have seasonal gallery shows in whatever spaces we can get our hands on. If traditional art gallery standards slow down the process of getting trans art on the walls, we reject them.
t4t stands for "trans for trans", formerly only seen in personal ads. We take "t4t" as our name while offering community, opportunities, and art showings for ourselves. We require no qualifications, and refuse the labor of excessive explanation. This is trans art for trans eyes. Onlookers welcome.
In an increasingly digital age, IRL community becomes harder to find, and our sense of isolation increases. The majority of trans organizations have been support groups or suicide hotlines - we seek to intervene upstream and build our community up before these things are necessary.
We offer monthly trans-only life drawing sessions, transFIGURE, at the Parallax Art Center. In a room of exclusively trans arts and trans models, we can render and see ourselves in our own image, with minimal concerns of presentation or gender politics. We have seasonal gallery shows in whatever spaces we can get our hands on. If traditional art gallery standards slow down the process of getting trans art on the walls, we reject them.
t4t stands for "trans for trans", formerly only seen in personal ads. We take "t4t" as our name while offering community, opportunities, and art showings for ourselves. We require no qualifications, and refuse the labor of excessive explanation. This is trans art for trans eyes. Onlookers welcome.
EVENTS AS OF THIS WRITING (NOVEMBER 2022)
Since being created in April 2022...
05/20/22 - SPRING ART SHOW // vacant industrial building in NE Portland
06/10/22 - transFIGURE life drawing session
08/14/22 - transFIGURE life drawing session
09/18/22 - transFIGURE life drawing session
10/01/22 - FALL ART SHOW // Parallax Art Center in Portland's Pearl District
10/16/22 - transFIGURE life drawing session
11/18/22 - transFIGURE life drawing session
11/18/22 - WINTER ART SHOW // MK Gallery at Portland State University
05/20/22 - SPRING ART SHOW // vacant industrial building in NE Portland
06/10/22 - transFIGURE life drawing session
08/14/22 - transFIGURE life drawing session
09/18/22 - transFIGURE life drawing session
10/01/22 - FALL ART SHOW // Parallax Art Center in Portland's Pearl District
10/16/22 - transFIGURE life drawing session
11/18/22 - transFIGURE life drawing session
11/18/22 - WINTER ART SHOW // MK Gallery at Portland State University
follow us on instagram @thet4tartcollective
founder: Pablo V. Cazares
Pablo V. Cazares created and curates The t4t Art Collective, a group dedicated to giving trans artists opportunities to show their work, and hosting monthly trans figure drawing sessions. He is a visual artist and designer interested in the interplay between The Other and the mundane, particularly through explorations of isolation. His primary goal in artmaking is to inspire a sense of wonder.
Beginning his career as a technical apparel designer for Hanna Andersson, he has also done apparel design work with OMSI (the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), product engineering for self-inflating travel pillows, and designed for Both&, a clothing brand that creates garments specifically for the transmasculine body. He has been featured as a guest instructor for UniversityofFashion.com and at the Oregon City Service Learning Academy. One of his pieces was featured in a group show at Portland Fashion Week. He runs Community Stitch PDX, a community sewing makerspace in Portland, and was recently chosen as a mentor-designer for the annual SH/FT Fashion Show through Young Audiences Arts For Learning of Oregon.
His fine art works have been shown in three galleries throughout the Portland area: the Afru Gallery, the Parallax Art Center, and PSU's MK Gallery. He created an installation piece at the Hypnagogia Festival in 2019. He was awarded a residency at the Lookout Arts Quarry in Bellingham, Washington. Pablo holds an associates degree in Apparel Design from The Art Institute of Portland. He is currently completing his B.S. in Art Practice at Portland State University.
You can see more of his work at PabloVCazares.com or on Instagram @PabloVCazares
Beginning his career as a technical apparel designer for Hanna Andersson, he has also done apparel design work with OMSI (the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), product engineering for self-inflating travel pillows, and designed for Both&, a clothing brand that creates garments specifically for the transmasculine body. He has been featured as a guest instructor for UniversityofFashion.com and at the Oregon City Service Learning Academy. One of his pieces was featured in a group show at Portland Fashion Week. He runs Community Stitch PDX, a community sewing makerspace in Portland, and was recently chosen as a mentor-designer for the annual SH/FT Fashion Show through Young Audiences Arts For Learning of Oregon.
His fine art works have been shown in three galleries throughout the Portland area: the Afru Gallery, the Parallax Art Center, and PSU's MK Gallery. He created an installation piece at the Hypnagogia Festival in 2019. He was awarded a residency at the Lookout Arts Quarry in Bellingham, Washington. Pablo holds an associates degree in Apparel Design from The Art Institute of Portland. He is currently completing his B.S. in Art Practice at Portland State University.
You can see more of his work at PabloVCazares.com or on Instagram @PabloVCazares