Towards

For the 2026 Williams Art Community Project (WACP).

This exhibit deals with the personal grief, acceptance, and hope that is necessary to move forward, both individually and systemically.

jaydenjogwe@gmail.com 

Artist Bio and Intro

Digital photograph.

Jayden Jogwe is always just out of reach—until he's not. A being who refuses to be defined, Jayden blurs the lines between invisible and hypervisible.

Growing Pains

17"x22" Photographic print on glossy paper.

A self-portrait of the artist's stretch marks, born after a year of health complications. The plastic film in front of the lens gives the image a dreamy quality, suggesting that there is beauty to be found in the pain.

Fingernails lightly dig into the flesh.

If you look closely, you can see a four leaf clover, the number 7, and an elephant embellished on the silver ring. These are all signs of luck. Additionally, light reflects off the plastic film placed in front of the camera lens. The shape of these reflections seem to mirror the shape of the stretch marks.

Here, I am touching the physical print with gloved fingers in the same way I touched my actual body.

Ephemera

17"x22" Photographic print on luster paper.

Bright white lights dance across pink walls in a silent room. I took this picture while wandering the halls of Williams College, trying to find my place on campus and in the world at large. For those brief moments, as the lights flickered, nothing else but stillness mattered.

Self-portrait

44"x26" Photographic print on luster.

Plastic white flowers adorn the artist's hair as he closes his eyes and remembers the strength and softness it took to make it this far.

Here is the photo displayed on the wall, alongside other portraits that the artist took that day of a friend. The shoot had themes of rest, grief, processing, and self-expression.

Smackdown

40"x26" Photographic print on luster.

A black and white photo of a fierce vogue fem battle at the 2025 Smackdown Kiki Ball.

The theme of this kiki ball was "Smackdown," in which teams of models and performers would compete in their respective beauty, fashion, or performance categories.

This photo depicts a "battle" in the vogue fem category, in which competitors danced in the style of vogue fem in front of a judges panel to see who came out on top. As you can see by the wrestler style boot, the dress code was to come as a fighter and knock out your opponent, not with your fists but with your skills. The underground kiki community had been looking forward to this ball all month, and the cheers were loud.

My friends and I drove three hours away from campus to attend this ball in the midst of a busy semester. The energy in that room followed us on the road back to campus. Adrenaline could be found and kept.

Here, you can see this photograph at the center of my exhibit for the Spring 2025 Big Art Show. I titled the exhibit "Wish," which is my name in the kiki and ballroom scene and speaks to hope as a catalyst for change and movement.