RaiNE Brabender (they/them) is a time based artist who largely uses their body to create works that respond to how society tells us to fit into certain molds. Through their art process, RaiNE explores what it means to defy those social expectations. They use their fat, queer, black body to rebel against heteronormativity and celebrate their own existence.

“When I think about the experience of gender euphoria, I think about the days when I stop at the mirror to flirt with myself. I think of the days when I am so proud of myself for refusing to to be the “lady” I was raised to be. I am living in an existence that is full of pleasure and experimentation. I don’t have to limit myself based on gender roles that I do not believe in. I create my own gender. I always explore this in my art. My gender is art. My life is art. I am art. My work is extremely vulnerable and it is something I want to share with the world.”

— RaiNE Brabender