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Jude Benoit – Diary of a e’pite’ji’j: hypervigilant love

Diary of a e’pite’ji’j: hypervigilant love

Jude Benoit

rOGUE Gallery

Nostalgic uncertainty 
De ja vu wrapped up in braid ribbons and seaweed. 
Hot salty youthful excitement always ending in a familiar panic. 
Each snapshot replaced with another.
From childhood through youth connected by a 
hypervigilant kind of love.

Diary of a e’pite’ji’j: hypervigilant love is a freeze-frame on items nostalgic to Benoit’s youth. Discarded fishing nets, garbage bags, washed up refuse hang together, caught in a net, a wave suspended in time. Floating amongst them are photos of places, some recognizable, many ambiguous. The photos drifting on the current are records of exact locations of moments of fear and panic caused by being alone with a person. Whether the feeling of imminent danger was realized or not, the fear has created a life of constant hypervigilance. The cameras that produced the images reflect the feeling: disposable. Though unique to Benoit’s experiences, they hope these images and items connect to a shared experience of indigenous women and girls. Benoit invites indigenous women, girls, and two spirit visitors to share their memories and connections in the diary.

Jude Benoit is a Two-Spirit artist from the Kitpu clan. They have fought for rights and better support systems for the 2s/trans community for over a decade. They are also a fierce land and water warrior whose only words on reconciliation are “land back”. Their work has been fluid over the years (much like their gender), starting with poetry and spoken word when they were a teen, to then helping other queer youth perform and write their own stories by producing shows, open mics, and workshops. In their off time from being an artist, community organizer and downright badass you can find them working as a barista, reading tarot cards and ignoring their obvious burnout.