crossing the line

Crossing the Line is a series of mixed-media collages that bring focus to expressions of gender fluidity depicted through remixed archival images of early 20th-century black queer figures. These works feature archival images of trailblazing queer icons Gladys Bentley, Storme Delaverie, Nellie Small, and Harryette as well as unidentified masculine presenting women and gender-fluid individuals from my archive of found vernacular photographs. 

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, communities such as Harlem and Bronzeville became a haven for queers and gender non-conforming people to challenge social expectations and policing of gender presentation. Crossdressing laws and gender policing made expressions of gender fluidity through clothing illegal in the daylight and confined only to entertainers and performers at night. Sanctions on genderqueer and gender non-conforming people fell under laws like the “3 Garment Rule” which required at least 3 garments to be in line with assigned genders at birth. Crossing the Line turns the “3 Garment Rule” on its head, highlighting “menswear” worn by presumed women or genderqueer individuals.

My image-making within this series is a compilation of image remixing, deconstruction,  and reconstruction as each image is divided into multi-paneled compositions. These collections of images come together to build a visual lexicon of early black butch aesthetics, crossing the hard lines of masculinity and femininity. Each work has a reflexive approach as the image recesses and emerges in parts that form the whole. Each composition focuses on each figure’s approach to performed and embodied masculinity.

The breadth of my work and practice addresses queer legibility, imposed concealment, and protective concealment as a means of survival. Crossing the Line is a continuum of that work. The series highlights the audacity and nerve of Black queer women and genderqueer people of the time who dared to choose authenticity even under the threat of criminalization. 

Alanna Fields

MIRAGES OF DREAMS PAST

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AUDACITY

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AUDACITY