Brooke Mott - Masc/Femme or They/Them

Brooke Mott

Masc/Femme or They/Them  2022

mixed media on timber [diptych]

$800 each or $1600 together

As a teenager struggling with my identity, the local music scene offered an environment with looser social demands. A place where music was the only language you needed and where being polite wasn't a prerequisite for acceptance. It was a place where gender expression was more flexible, where boys could be feminine, and girls could be masculine. Music culture has its own rich dialects, a tapestry of culture, community and acceptance.

This diptych offers a juxtaposition of Synesthesia experiences. I have painted two songs that offered me a way to navigate social structures with both masculine and feminine expressions. Are music genres innately masculine or feminine; or does music provide a platform to push the boundaries of conservative gender norms?

Brooke Mott

“It has been through becoming physically disabled that I have allowed myself to accept my differences.”

Brooke lives with complex disability and they are neurodivergent. As a synesthete with music as their special interest, they create works inspired by the way they experience music as colours, shapes and textures. The paintbrushes become the instrument as they play along with the song and the mark making feels like picking a guitar string. The work uses texture to evoke the senses and allow the viewer to feel the music by engaging multiple senses.

Brooke is an avid disability advocate through their writing and they have a background in creative arts. They combine these skills to create artwork that symbolises the power creativity in advocacy.