Atlas Dearborn
they/them
Arcata, CA, US
Atlas Dearborn (they/them/theirs) is a queer, trans, and disabled artist born in Stockton, CA, practicing in the northern region of Humboldt County. They are a currently enrolled in the teachers credential program for art at Cal Poly Humboldt with hopes to teach their own jewelry classes one day. Atlas's metal work focuses on patination and exploring topics of identity over time. To them, the act of changing the coloration of metal with no control over the end results acts as simile to transition and the overall experience of being human. Their work is a combination of identity and process art. Similar work can be seen on their Instagram @apalssauce and the rest of their artistic practice on their portfolio www.atlasdearborn.com.
“‘Hiraeth’ is an acrostic sterling silver necklace featuring a 20-gauge Byzantine chain. The word ‘hiraeth’ is a Welsh word meaning a longing for home that does not exist anymore. It’s a word rooted in the experiences of nostalgia, of looking back to a moment and not being able to go back. It is a word that has reflected how I experience my identity and finding a space to call home. It’s a reminder that an actual home is one that can be created, one that I can create and be happy to return to at the end of every day.”
How does your work relate to the theme of flourish(ing)?
“My work relates to the theme of flourish because it is the reminder to myself that a home can be made anywhere, and it is a work I can carry with me anywhere I go. As I have established myself within my communities, I have discovered that the definition of ‘home’ for me has expanded beyond a physical building that I sleep in. It’s a word that anchors myself to my environment and the people I surround myself with. Home can be found in others, and my work is a reminder to keep going if it has been lost. It’s a constant reminder that better things will come.
I believe that a sense of home and belonging is how people can flourish. If you look at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, you will see that a shelter, a sense of safety, and close relationships with others are the building blocks necessary to attain self-esteem and self-actualization. These top sections of the pyramid is where exploration of identity is attained. It is also these top sections that allow an individual to flourish, to find new ways to find personhood and find the capacity to evolve as an individual.
But you can’t flourish without a home. The sense of home has been an ever changing experience for me as I have navigated through college. Despite graduating, I feel like I’m in a state of flux as I navigate my way through my credential program before I can establish a career for myself. But my home will be a constant, never moving or changing place. The staticity of my home allows everything else around me to evolve as I identify my future and my place within it. It is my work towards this future that has allowed me to flourish as an educator, an artist, and a transman. Never would I have imagined that I would be this happy, even though the world is falling apart around me."
"Hiraeth", Sterling silver, heliodor, idocrase, rose quartz, aquamarine, elbaite tourmaline, yellow tourmaline, hessonite garnet, 20" x 1", 2025
How does your creative practice allow you to flourish (grow, thrive, blossom)?
“My artistic practice is an exploration of the self. It has become a therapeutic endeavor, not only through the process of creation, but also the reflection that comes from it. I have many worries and experiences that are difficult to navigate through. By creating something tangible, it’s a validation of these thoughts and feelings, becoming something that is representative of my experiences. I believe that by navigating this component of my life through my art, I end up learning something new about myself that encodes itself into my thought processes and outlook on life.
My art needs meaning to survive, for me to survive. It’s my art that is the window into my soul and whole being. It’s art that is vulnerable to create and art that is vulnerable to experience. But it’s my mark on the world, a tangible history of me. And this component of my work allows me to stop dwelling on the past and instead focus on everything new around me that I may have never noticed before. This therapeutic process becomes the tool to allow me to thrive within the world I am creating. My ability to flourish is threatened when I am bogged down with concerns, anxieties, and traumatic experiences that I become blinded from the good around me. By making these experiences into a physical object, a representation of this memory, I can acknowledge its existence and decide what to do from there.”
Photographs Courtesy of the Artist
As a queer+ artist, what would you like to see and/or what do you need in order to flourish during this time?
“As a queer artist, the individuals that occupy this world need to understand that differences within people are normal and acceptable. I have never understood how another person could be filled with oppressive and violent hate directed towards someone different. Maybe this comes from my lived experience of navigating transition. Maybe this is a result of engaging with academia and reading perspectives from varying groups of people and time periods. But I see that the world is suffering, down to an individual-level. As people, we are living through history, and it may be a history that attempts to erase all those that oppose imperialism, colonialism, and the mass systems of oppression.
I believe that artists and other creators are the ones that will support a movement that seeks out positive change, where being different is seen as a part of the every day, a necessary component of being alive. I want others to flourish, alongside myself, and I believe that this is done through community and letting our voices and messages be heard through the tangible objects we make. Being queer is an individualistic experience that is embedded within a cultural and collective movement. The same goes for being an artist, making art reflected of one’s thoughts and observations embedded within the global and time-observed history of creation. Its creation that lives on, and it's our queerness that I believe grants us the ability to grow and evolve. Maybe the world needs to become more gay for the world to recognize that people should be allowed to live.”