About the Artist

Grey Vanderwoude is a Cincinnati-based artist whose work studies the fluid and inevitably queer “in-between” of organic growth and decay, especially as a constant transformative force that reflects the interconnectedness of all living things. Their work treats decomposition not as an end, but as a generative process—an ongoing translation into new forms of life that resists fixed, binary definitions. Drawing parallels between ecological cycles and queer embodiment, Grey’s art reflects a deep engagement with the natural world, transformation, impermanence, and the shared vulnerability of all living things.

Embracing this fluid transformation as both concept and method, Grey’s work thrives in the in-between states as it moves across media. Film photography allows for physical embodiment of these concepts. Photo is decomposed, layered, and reimagined with organic material in mixed media collage work. A visual language spoken by all living things is distilled through this tactile process, and bleeds into realms of painting, drawing, and installation. 

Imagining art-making as a kind of joyful composting, Grey blurs the boundaries of self in favor of growth, relationship, and collective transformation. Their studio practice is guided by this philosophy of interconnectedness, vulnerability, and continuity with the natural world.