J Taran Diamond is a metalsmith and interdisciplinary craft artist based in Athens, Georgia, Where they study and teach at the University of Georgia after earning their BFA from the University of North Texas. Diamond’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at New York City Jewelry Week, Munich Jewelry Week, and the Czong Institute of Contemporary Art in Gimpo, South Korea. Outside of the studio, Diamond is an advocate for black people in academia, and works to dismantle the systemic barriers that make higher education inaccessible to black people.
J Taran Diamond
they/them
"In this body of work, I reflect on the role of hair and protective styling as a means of understanding my queerness through the lens of my blackness. The braiding of afro-textured hair serves, both in this work and in the cultural practices that this work references, as a means of self-transformation that exists uniquely within blackness. As such, I seek to address the ways in which the visual cues often associated with queerness intersect with the visual aesthetics of blackness, where hair occupies a space somewhere between body and ornament."
“To me, queerphoria describes a specific type of kindness that becomes possible for queer people after the introspection that is necessary to understand our own queer identities. As queer people, we often first perceive our queerness in the incongruity between our own feelings or experiences and those of our non-queer peers. Many queer people initially experience distress or dysphoria from this incongruity that is often exacerbated by the narratives surrounding queerness presented by the society we navigate. As we work through that incongruity and begin to understand our own queer identity in a world that does not consistently place value on queer people, we learn to find value in ourselves and those whose experiences are similar to our own. This enables us to treat ourselves with (and receive) kindness in a way that is accessible only to queer people, as we give that kindness not in spite of our queerness but because of it. That kindness is queerphoria.”
What does [queerphoria] mean to you? This can be something felt, experienced, or made.
Slippage III; Braiding hair, dyed silicone, anodized titanium, steel, thread; 2.5" x 10" x .5", 2022
“This body of work centers primarily around the visual cues of queer identity (and, in particular, my own queer identity) as they exist within the cultural aesthetics of blackness. To that end, I focus on material and formal choices that could signify a queer, campy, or effeminate wearer when considered outside of their use in jewelry.”
What does being queer mean to you in relation to your material choices? Is it something you consider?
Is the work queer because the maker is queer, or is it queer because the subject matter is queer?
“Both. This work largely describes my own experiences with gender identity and the things that cause me to experience gender euphoria. I think that there's a lot of overlap between the maker and the subject matter, and I think both are queer.”
Limp Wrist; Braiding hair, dyed silicone, steel, powder coat, thread; 28" x 3.5" x 3"; 2022
“The role that my identity plays in my studio practice is definitely more significant than the other way around, but I think that my practice is a powerful tool to process and respond to experiences as they relate to my identity, which in turn helps me understand those experiences better. A lot of that understanding only happens after I make something; I'll often conceive of a piece and make it with an idea of what I want it to be and why, and then when it's finished I'll look at the finished piece and realize that there were experiences informing my choices that I hadn't thought of at all.”
What role does your studio practice play in your identity- if at all?
“I think that the relationship that my work has with the viewer is very important. In a lot of my work, I'm interested in the social functions of objects, and that's all about the relationship between objects and the people who use or view them. The relationship between myself and the object gets to be my focus when I'm engaged in the process and labor of making, and I think that's important too, but I think those relationships exist in very different spaces for me.
Regarding the viewer's interaction with queerness in my work, I think a lot about the visual cues that we associate with queerness. I like to think of the jewelry that I make as tools that use those cues to signal the wearer's queerness to the viewer.”
When creating your work, do you consider the relationship your object has with the viewer?
Knotless Costs Extra; Braiding hair, dyed silicone, brass, powder coat, steel, thread; 18" x 2.25" x 2.25", 2022
“Syro (a brooklyn-based footware brand) is a great source for queer and gender non-conforming shoes! They're a bit of an investment, but everything they make runs up to US men's 14, and they're one of the only brands I'm aware of that offers that size range and uses real leather instead of polyurethane.”
We've asked you a lot of our questions... What is one thing you would like to share?
“Big Black”