Light into Material is an exhibition honoring queer histories of photography, craft, and ritual by the queer and trans staff of March April Studio. The work emerges from our collective experimentation with early photography techniques such large format film, anthotypes, tin types, cyanotypes on textiles, wet collodion glass plates, and toning with natural dyes in the March April darkroom.
Through the process of translating light into images on tin, textile, and paper, we explore themes of ritual and ornamentation. This emphasis on analog photography, textile, and communal experimentation places this exhibition in a lineage of queer and trans artists, who have used traditions of craft to blur the line between nature, body, and art object.
The opening reception for the exhibition will take place at March April Studio on Tuesday, October 7, 2025 from 7-8:30 p.m.
Participant Bios:
Somi Jun (they/them) is a writer and educator from Los Angeles. You can find writing by Jun in Phoebe, Gidra, The Margins, and Poets.org.
Bhavani Srinivas (they/she) makes sculptures, fiber installations, prints, and books. These objects often explore the myths of the motherland that are imagined by people living in diaspora; scientific racism; and material history.
Maj Roshandel (they/them) makes experimental prints and jewelry informed by family archives, MENA and SWANA gendered resistance movements around the world, and local organizing within Los Angeles.
Minu Jun (he/him) is a Los Angeles-based artist specializing in ink drawings, photography, experimental video, and costume fabrication.
Light into Material: Queer Ritual and Craft is organized by March April Studio as part of the 2025 Circa: Queer Histories Festival, presented by One Institute.
March April is a worker-owned cooperative and community art studio for people to learn and grow together. We specialize in events and workshops at the intersection of art, writing, and community organizing.