Bio
Jude Akrey is a white, queer and trans, Autistic artist occupying Between the Lakes Treaty Territory No.3 (otherwise known as Guelph, ON). They graduated from the University of Guelph with a BA (Honours) in Studio Art. In 2023, they were selected as the 10th Annual Artist-In-Residence for the City of Guelph, and their project From One Queer to Another was awarded the Runner-Up prize for the Warrant Garrett Inclusive Programming Award through the Ontario Culture Days Spotlight Recognition Program. In 2023, they completed a residency at Boarding House Arts in Guelph, researching “Autistic modes of making” through experimental painting processes, which culminated in their solo exhibition Asters: tangentially. They have shown work across Ontario in Guelph, Waterloo, Kingston, Chatham, and Toronto. Jude has developed and delivered socially-engaged and community-engaged art programs for queer, trans, and disabled people through the University of Guelph’s Queer Print Club and Fine Arts Network, the Art Gallery of Guelph, and the City of Guelph.
Artist Statement
Jude’s practice is dedicated to the ongoing exploration and perpetual re-definition of trans and Autistic experiences: ways of being in the world that are inherently transitory and ambiguous. Their work aims to deprogram normative and historical modes of production in painting and printmaking through play, naivety, and exemplifying neurodivergent tendencies and sensibilities. Jude employs facets of Autistic wayfinding as implements in artmaking- routine building, repetitive behaviours, stimming, pattern-seeking, developing systems- to envision futures that foster safety, joy, and tenderness for queer and disabled people in the face of systemic oppression. They are interested in the destruction of the austere, historical traditions of painting by way of aleatory play with materials and processes. Jude maintains a socially engaged and community-engaged art practice in their local context, designing and facilitating public art programs for queer, trans, and disabled folks. They believe that accessible, barrier-free, community-engaged artmaking is intrinsic to exploring the boundlessness of neurodivergent and anti-normative creativity.
