"The Nonbinary Tic-Tac-Toe" (XOXO)

12”x12” encaustic/ mixed media on wood panels

I’m proud to share that I’m joining the Art Bias community next month! Thank you for the heartfelt & rapid welcoming. :) This tic-tac-toe piece was something I invited my dear friend Neil Murphy to do with me a while ago (playing alone a game of two is just sad), but happy to open it up to anyone within or outside of my art community who feels motivated to contribute. :)

The project was inspired by a close friend’s daughter (also a sweet friend), who one day requested to be addressed with a “They” pronoun. I am doing my best to make this mental shift, but I’ve been scratching my head a bit over the grammar. How do we reform a historically binary game into a nonbinary one, in a way that everybody wins? This question must be answered with artistic rigor. Ground rules are: 1. You can draw X, O, nonbinary XO, or neither. 2. You can either fit your image into my narrative or create your own story. 3. You can stick with the 4x4 grid or ignore it completely. 4. Just have fun, laugh and play! I realize this might sound slightly creepy to anyone who isn't a neurobiologist, but even at Stanford, we've always had a "play with your brain slice" sign in the lab above our electrophysiology rig. According to social scientist/ professor Brené Brown, play is at the core of creativity and innovation, and is an essential component of joyous, wholehearted living. (Notice that Xs, Os and XOs have already won on the diagonal!)

Brief explanation of my doing:

A1: Oops, Mary Poppins’ bag popped open! (Pun intended.) X; A4: North Star, XO; B2: Picasso’s Dove of Peace mistakenly picked up Mary Poppins’ green bra instead of its iconic olive branch. X; B3: Sometimes I wish I were a neuronal nucleus, painted on a rainbow-kite. He? She? It? They? All of the above, XO; C2: Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man is practicing their cheerleader moves inside of an exploding dandelion-zorb. XO; C4: My cat got Klimtified again, while they were playing with their colorful neuron-kite. XO; D1: Don Quixote (XO) landed upside down in another dandelion-zorb because D2: they stared at the windmill-giant for too long, meanwhile their horse got bored and decided to jump onto a nearby tambourine.

Check out this TED talk by Stuart Brown on the significance of play: https://www.ted.com/talks/stuart_brown_play_is_more_than_just_fun?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

Also, Brené Brown on work vs. play: https://fb.watch/tmEOOgGglU/