A Spoon Full of Sugar

A Spoon Full of Sugar is an 8 hour durational performance taking place in the foyer of the Spencer Mansion at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Each spoon of sugar Timpener carries up the stairs possesses an invitation to discover something new about themself. Each time Timpener powders their face, they embrace an opportunity to consider and reconstruct normative gender expectations. The marks they leave on the rope draped along the stairs indicate a collaboration of asking for and accepting help along their journey. This performance exhibits an intimate journey of internal transformation and personal discovery, emphasizing the importance of self-acceptance and offering hope to others on a similar journey.

As a Fem, non-binary person, Holly Timpener is often resisting normative spoon-fed gender ideologies. It took them a long time to realize that they can look however they want and be the gender they know they are. In their life, Timpener has struggled with self-image and body dysmorphia along with gender dysphoria. They have moved through life performing for others, so they didn’t have to encounter their internal self. They thought it would be easier this way. In A Spoon Full of Sugar, Timpener uses time to transform their desire to please others. The artist invites the tension of uncomfortability to teach them how sweet it can be to move through the struggles of life focused on their desires.

Curated by Dr. Toby Lawrence, AGGV Curator of Contemporary Art, and presented in collaboration with Camosun College Visual Arts Department.

Performance – A Spoon Full of Sugar
Saturday, November 23, 10am-5pm

Holly Timpener Artist Talk
Friday November 22, 2024 from 12:30-1:30pm
Camosun College – Gibson Auditorium, Room 216, Young Building, Lansdowne Campus.
Free – All are welcome.

Image credits: Holly Timpener, Trans Bible Readings, 2022, performance, Place Fort LaTour, Saint John NB, photographed by Shelby Delune, courtesy of the artist.