Not For You
Publication Date
Spring 4-7-2026
College
Watkins College of Art
Department
Education, Department of
Student Level
Undergraduate
Faculty Mentor
Benjy Davis and Lakesha Lee
Presentation Type
Gallery
Summary
This body of work, which includes a video, some clothes I altered, and a collection of film photos, is for the trans people at Belmont that are constantly treated like we're freaks, burdens, and aliens!!!! This body of work, and all of my art, is not for cisgender people. This body of work is meant to display how I personally feel out of place, out of my body, misunderstood, and treated as less than human than cis people at this school. The mechanical imagery alongside the figures with their faces covered by a reflective mask is meant say that the viewer should confront and reflect on how they think and feel about trans people and their own experience with their own gender. The glitching, the clothes altered with fish imagery, and abstracted patterns/shapes are used in order to push the idea to the viewer of the absurd way in which I feel existing as I am in this environment. The work is meant to play in the faces of cisgender people at this school, and work as an outlet for me to process and talk about my experiences as a trans person at Belmont.
Recommended Citation
Helm, Gillian L., "Not For You" (2026). SPARK Symposium Presentations. 782.
https://repository.belmont.edu/spark_presentations/782

Comments
I don't give my consent for my work to be fed to generative AI in any scenario.