SEEING & BEING SEEN
Artist Statements
Listed Alphabetically by Artist’s Last Name
Archibald Adams (they/them)
Rochester, NY
@archieadrienne_
About the Artist:
My name is Archibald Adams, I’m currently a rising senior at the University of Rochester and just last year I moved to Rochester full-time. I’ve spent much of my young adult life in search of members of my community to share love and joy with. My time in Rochester has given me a beautiful queer and transgender family and I’ve had the privilege of being able to document these small (and sometimes large) pockets of joy we create together out in the natural world. I think it’s of the utmost importance for us to stand together as a community not just in joy but in active resistance against systems which perpetually seek to repress us.
Exhibition Pieces:
“Queer & Trans Joy Outside – Durand Eastman Beach #1” / 2023
“Queer & Trans Joy Outside – Highland Park #3” / 2024
About the Artwork:
My images are a part of a larger series of photos I’ve taken of my queer and transgender family in Rochester since moving here in 2022. Since I started taking these photos, I and the people I’ve loved have changed often and frequently. These images serve as a sort of time capsule of what we have been like year to year and the joys we’ve experienced together in the natural world. Along with a marker of the passage of time, unknowingly, these photos became a sort of love letter to places and people I’ve grown to love right here in Rochester. These relationships have helped me celebrate my queerness and transness because of how beautiful it has been to capture these moments of joy.
I took these photos on a Polaroid IS048 Portable Digital Handheld camera. I think the beauty of these images is that they could have been taken on a forty-dollar camera or a thousand-dollar camera, and they would still be just as powerful to me. These photos are not about the price it took to take them, but the way they make me feel. In taking them I was hopeful to capture my love for my queer life in Rochester without having to verbalize it.
“Queer & Trans Joy Outside – Durand Eastman Beach #1” was taken my first year of living in Rochester with my now platonic life partner. I was just getting to know them and was overwhelmed by how much I already loved and admired them. “Queer & Trans Joy Outside – Highland Park #3” was taken just this last year when I spent the day at the park playing with my trans friends outside (I had just recently came out as trans too). It felt so good to be there with them and to be seen for who I truly was, and to see them too.
I hope to continue to take photos like these as long as I’m here, loving and living with these people. I’m excited to see how a project like this can continue to develop and change over time as the people and places involved change too.
Jovana Babović (she/her)
Rochester, NY
@spy_of_love_photography
About the Artist:
Jovana Babović is a photographer and writer based in Rochester. She teaches history at SUNY Geneseo.
As a historian, I tell the stories of people that might otherwise be lost to the past. Photography allows me to capture people in their present. I love these portraits because the people in them challenge us to look and to see them. We owe that to one another — to look and see people how they want to be seen — rather than to leave it to the historians of the future.
Exhibition Pieces:
“I Met Him at the Candy Store” / 2025
“To the Moon and Not Back” / 2024
“A Night in October” / 2024
Andie Burkey (any pronouns)
Rochester, NY
@the_andie_sho
About the Artist:
Andie Burkey is a queer, multidisciplinary artist. She grew up in Fairport and currently resides in the City of Rochester. Since 2016, Andie has been using Snapchat to create black-and-white self-portraits, a practice she has continued for nearly a decade. Through her digital photography, Andie explores themes of grief, resilience, and personal transformation.
Exhibition Piece:
“April 19, 2022 12:49PM” / 2022
About the Artwork:
Since 2016, I have been using Snapchat to create black-and-white self-portraits, a practice I’ve continued for nearly a decade. Through my digital photography, I explore themes of grief, resiliency, and personal transformation. I also highlight how meaningful art can be made from everyday tools like Snapchat.
As a queer person, Snapchat holds a special place in my heart. Its filters—ones that add facial hair or “change” your gender—opened up a world of possibility for me. These tools didn’t distort my reality; they revealed something true for/within myself. What began as a platform to casually keep up with friends became a deeply personal space for gender exploration and self-expressive art. I captured and archived the most poignant moments in my black-and-white self-portrait series.
The photograph chosen for this exhibit, “April 19, 2022 12:49PM,” captures a shift in my self-portrait series. I was able to document a mustache on my face for the first time that was not created by a Snapchat filter. I had been taking testosterone for months as part of my gender journey, which facilitated this facial hair growth. I was experiencing a lot of gender euphoria in having my outward appearance better reflect my inner reality. At the same time, I was also exhausted by my 9-5 grind and desperately needed a more LGBTQ+ affirming work environment. Taking this self-portrait allowed me to honor where I was at.
This is the first time a photograph from my self-portrait series has been shared publicly. I’ve always created and surrounded my life with art as a life-giving practice. However, in more recent years, I’ve discovered the equally vital practice of sharing that art with others. I’m very honored to be participating in the Seeing & Being Seen exhibit.
Natalie Fox (she/they)
Rochester, NY
www.nataliefox.com
About the Artist:
It is my belief that at any one given moment in time, that we, the observers of our lives, exist as the culmination of the unique and impactful experiences that shape our intersectional identities. For myself, those identities that I find myself distilled to are vast, expansive, and as important to me as existence itself, for who are we without our identities?
At this point in time, a few of those intersections include: photographer, artist, daughter, SNAP recipient, Leo, volleyball player, flight attendant, Rochesterian, keynote speaker, heart transplant survivor, Lakota, lesbian, SA survivor, democrat, and woman. It’s not a comprehensive list by any means, but these identities tell a story, my story. A story, no more or less significant than your own. They encapsulate political, social, financial, athletic, professional, sexual, medical, and just about every other aspect of life you can think of, and my favorite part is that no two people are the same.
As a photographer, these identities impact my art, either through the people I serve, the subject matter, or the symbolism behind each image. My brand, inspired by my ideologies, derives from my observance of human behavior, specifically where that human behavior lacks humanity. What I have found is that it is with a focus on accessibility, inclusion, visibility, and representation that I may act as but one log on a long bridge over the gap dividing humanity from its humanity. While I recognize that alone, I can do very little to resolve such a monumental undertaking, it is through thoughtful and intentional network curation that I can make a change in the experiences of those I serve, and that through change they may enable others in kind.
Exhibition Pieces:
“Azalea Noir” / 2022
“Expression” / 2022
“Resplendence” / 2024
Sue Lander (she/her)
Rochester, NY
About the Artist:
I have been photographing nature and wildlife most of my career. However, as an older gay woman I wanted to express through my photography how I feel in these turbulent times. Instead of running and hiding our identity, it’s crucial that we embrace each other, admire our diversity, and proceed steadily forward together.
Exhibition Piece:
“Turbulent Times” / 2025
Lanni Maszerowski (they/them)
Rochester, NY
@lannimade
About the Artist:
Lanni Maszerowski (they/them) is a queer, non-binary, and disabled artist living in Rochester, NY, where they teach 5th grade. Their vibrant work, inspired by their love for colorful fashion and rainbows, focuses on social justice and queer themes.
Exhibition Piece:
“Inside” / 2025
About the Artwork:
This self-portrait was taken in my bedroom, the place where I feel the most safe, grounded, and fully myself. I’m wearing an outfit that makes me feel euphoric in my gender, surrounded by the small details that reflect who I am, like the Protect Trans Kids sign in the window and my cane on the bed. My room is more than just a physical space; it’s a metaphor for my body as my first and truest home. I want folks to know that finding and protecting that sense of home is an essential part of being trans, and it’s something everyone deserves.
Kit Morgan (they/he)
Rochester, NY
www.theliberatedporch.com
About the Artist:
Kit Morgan was born and raised in the Bible Belt. Kit began visiting the Adirondacks in childhood and found a sense of peace in Upstate Life. After living in the rugged Adirondacks for a few years, Kit relocated to Rochester which reminded them of their rustbelt upbringing while still being nearby the nature they came to live in the Adirondacks. Kit’s work is influenced by finding queer liberation in the regeneration of Upstate New York’s wilderness and once urban decay.
Exhibition Piece:
“Queer Joy at Dusk” / 2024
About the Artwork:
I met Theresa (left) and Kit (right) one summer evening on a friend’s boat in the Adirondacks. The connection between us was immediate—a quiet, unspoken understanding forged by shared experience. None of us were cisgender, and in a rural area like this, that came with risks. Still, we found ourselves laughing, swapping stories, and enjoying a rare moment of ease.
There’s something comforting about dusk in the mountains. The light softens, the world slows, and—just for a moment—it felt safe enough to let ourselves be seen. Not just physically, but fully. Our genders, often policed or politicized, had room to breathe. We didn’t have to explain ourselves. We didn’t have to hide.
This photo captures more than just three friends on a boat. It’s a glimpse of queer joy—unscripted, radiant, and real. It’s what happens when the sun dips low and there’s finally space to exhale. We often talk about queer grief or queer rage, but queer joy is just as revolutionary. It’s a form of resistance. And it deserves to be witnessed.
Because sometimes, the shadows aren’t something to hide in—they’re where we come alive.
Daniel Paulk (he/they)
Rochester, NY
@danielapaulk
About the Artist:
Daniel “Art” Paulk is an amateur photographer living in Rochester, NY. In photography, his interests include darkroom printing & processing, portraiture, and urban landscapes. Originally from Louisiana, he’s called Rochester home since 2021 and loves its richly artistic culture and history.
Exhibition Piece:
“Calypso Moon (dark)” / 2025
Cai Quirk (they/them)
Rochester, NY
www.caiquirk.com
@caiquirk
About the Artist:
Cai Quirk (they/them or ey/em) is a trans and genderqueer multi-disciplinary artist who focuses on the intersection of gender diversity throughout history, its erasure, and contemporary reclamation and restoryation. Their self-portrait series ‘Transcendence: Queer Restoryation’ engages with connections between gender, mythology, and nature-based spirituality, and was published as an artist book in March 2023 with Skylark Editions. Other projects include ‘Beyond Pink and Blue,’ ‘Map of Genderland,’ and their current series, ‘Queer Temple,’ which transforms portraits of queer folks into stained-glass-like tapestries to uplift queerness as sacred. Cai’s work has been exhibited in fourteen states and four countries, and Cai has given hundreds of talks and workshops in conferences across America. They received bachelor’s degrees in music and photography from Indiana University.
Exhibition Piece:
“Woven Within” / 2019
Silas Sims (they/them)
Gates, NY
@silas.sims.photo
About the Artist:
Silas Sims is a multidisciplinary queer artist whose work explores identity, desire, and transformation through photography, video, and self-portraiture. Drawing on their rural Midwest upbringing, they craft surreal, emotionally charged worlds that blend raw authenticity with layered textures and vivid colors. Engaging deeply with the queer community in Rochester, NY, Silas embraces collaboration as a vital part of their practice. This collective approach allows their art to transcend personal narratives, connecting with shared experiences while blending technical mastery and emotional depth to invite reflection on identity and belonging.
Exhibition Pieces:
“Gaze” / 2024
“QueerKiss” / 2024
Penny Sterling (she/her)
Rochester, NY
@pennysterling
About the Artist:
Penny Sterling hasn’t always been Penny, but she has always been funny. She received her BA in Drama from Ithaca College in 1981 and has performed on stages and in comedy clubs across New York and in Canada. Penny is an accomplished storyteller in more than one way: she’s an Emmy-nominated television producer/director and the former head writer of The North Pole Times website, as well as a published author (Voices • The Art and Science of Psychotherapy, the quarterly journal of the American Association of Psychotherapy).
Penny spent the first half-century of her life as a man, getting married and divorced, raising children, and trying to ignore the part of her soul that kept telling her “this is not who you are!” In April of 2014, she finally admitted to herself that she was transgender, and 18 months later, she began living her authentic life – much to the surprise of most of her family and friends. Her answers to their questions resulted in Spy in the House of Men: A One-Woman Show with Balls in 2016, with 40+ performances through 2020 in Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, Ithaca, Corning, NY; Washington DC, Richmond, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, and Columbus. Her reputation as a must-see performer has continued to grow as additional shows garnered both critical and audience acclaim.
A storyteller, comedian, actor, inspirational public speaker, playwright, singer/songwriter, 988 Suicide Crisis Counselor, TEDX talker, and competition chili cook (retired), Penny lives in Rochester, NY, with her cat, Contessa Sonja Grismonelda Isidora Purrington-Smölket von Füfensbaugh (aka “The Foof”), and two ghosts who only speak German. Or at least, they only speak German when she’s around. Penny never refuses stage time. Or fruit pie.
Exhibition Pieces:
“Quiet Morning” / 2023
“Sam Nordquist is Dead” / 2025
About the Artwork:
“Sam Nordquist is Dead” I have a Trans Pride flag that flies from my porch. It was a gift from a friend of mine who was doing work with the Human Rights Campaign, and it has the word RESIST printed on it. Because of the wind and a sharp edge on my rain gutter, it’s been slowly shredding, which, combined with the word on it, feels like a definite comment on what’s happening to my community. In February, when the news of Sam Nordquist’s monthlong torture and death was reported, it was so overwhelming that I started to feel numb. About the same time, Rochester’s weather turned from cold rain to freezing, fast enough that it froze my battered and tattered flag in this “mid-wave” state. It really reflected my mood and attitude well—desolate, frozen, but only temporarily so. After I took the picture of this edge of the flag, I was inspired to remove all of the color from the surroundings, and to create a white vignette, to represent the emptiness and powerlessness I felt about the brutal taking of the life of a young man I never met, but who was part of my community. It’s not enough, but it’s all I could give.
Andrés Warren (he/him)
Rochester, NY
@sweetshot.jpg
@andres_warr
About the Artist:
Latino Libra with a Canon and a vision! Born in Colombia, and raised in the Finger Lakes region, I capture the diversity of queer life in all its authentic, magical glory. My creation isn’t just about seeing—it’s about feeling unapologetically visible, and capturing inner beauty while staying loud and proud.
Exhibition Piece:
“In Bloom” / 2025
