In Search of Identity

Artist Li Turner attempts to sort out the gender question in In Search of Identity. As a social construct, gender varies from society to society and can change over time. Consequently, this term is used broadly to denote a range of identities that may not correspond to established biological ideas of male and female. Turner’s series of watercolor paintings explore identities that stray from the more stringent biological definition.

From a biological stand point, gender interacts with but is different from sex, which refers to the different biological and physiological characteristics of females, males and intersex persons, such as chromosomes, hormones and reproductive organs. Gender, in contrast, refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially constructed. This includes norms, behaviors and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. In Search of Identity explores how gender identity refers to a person’s deeply felt, internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond to the person’s physiology or designated sex at birth.

In Search of Identity highlights different genders and explores the intersections between gender’s social and economic inequalities as well as how gender-based discrimination overlaps with other factors of discrimination.

In Search of Identity will be on display at Gallery 110 from September 7 – 30, 2023. Gallery hours are Thursday – Saturday from 12pm – 5pm and by appointment.