Tory Harris

Tory Harris is a self-proclaimed, “maker” and visual artist. Tory was born in Monterey, California in 1999 and has lived in three countries on the account of her father’s 30-year-Navy career. In the Spring of 2023 she graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with Honors (summa cum laude) with her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a minor in Art History. As a working Colorado artist and resident, Tory investigates the relationship between the female queer experience and mental health, based on personal experiences.

I am an interdisciplinary, visual artist. Through my work I analyze my identity in relation to psychological impacts of my upbringing within the Southern Christian community. My sculptures are an extension of my body and strive to take up space to have the viewer consider the area they occupy physically and emotionally. This is to comment on the space queer individuals have not always been given, politically and socially. The imagery in my video work confronts heteronormative expectations. They rely on intimacy and queer joy to act against disorienting values and stigmas from my lived experience in the south. My process requires hours of a repetitive action which quiets the mind and allows me to find joy and introspection within my identity through the intense focus of physical labor and making. This creates an avenue for me to let go of political and social bias and violence against women and the queer community. As a bisexual woman incessant emotional and physical violence against these groups manifests as internalized homophobia and shame. I rely on my artwork for emotional connection and for space that has been denied to LGBTQ+ and women. I hope that through my work I can elicit personal growth and resistance from an environment at war over the existence of queer bodies.