2. Clothed — Living Archive

LEX HILDERMAN

Lex Hilderman is an emerging interdisciplinary artist working across sculpture, photography, textile, installation, printmaking, and performance. They are currently based in Mohkinstsis Treaty 7 Territory, also known as Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Their practice investigates identity, memory, performativity, and the emotional relationships people form with objects and in space. Through the collection and recontextualization of found materials, Lex treats objects as living archives that carry traces of memory, sentimentality, and embodied history.

Through installation and spatial storytelling, Lex arranges objects and create environments to examine how identity is constructed, rehearsed, performed, and transformed. Their work often explores themes of intimacy, preservation, grief, and transition, reflecting an ongoing interest in what we inherit, what we choose to hold onto, and what it means to let go. Lex’s recent work explores the intersection of installation art and theatrical space, investigating how immersive environments can function as sites of storytelling, engagement, and emotional encounter.

Lex Hilderman is a graduate of Emily Carr University of Art and Design and the University of Calgary. They received their Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture with a minor in Social Practice and Community Engagement, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology concentrating in Gender, Family, and Workplace Issues. Lex’s artistic practice has been showcased with the Fem Assembly, Calgary Animated Objects Society, RBC Emerging Visual Artist Program, Calgary Arts Development, and Stride Gallery. October 2025 marked their first solo exhibition presented at Stride Gallery. They have also been awarded grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and Calgary Arts Development Agency.

CONTACT

Education

University of Calgary
Continuing Eduction, Creative Writing: Memoir Criting
2026

University of Calgary
Continuing Education, Front-end Web Development Certificate
2026

University of Calgary
Bachelor of Arts in Sociology
Concentration: Gender, Family, and Workplace
2020-2022

Athabasca University
Child Development Psychology and General Psychology
2019-2020

Emily Carr University of Art+Design
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture and Ceramics – Minor in Social Practice and Community Engagement

Exhibitions

Clothed: Until Further Notice
(solo)
Stride Gallery
Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
October - December 19, 2025

Fem Assembly: Here We Circle, RBC Emerging Visual Artist Program – Arts Commons, Calgary, AB.
2023

Collaboration with Malcolm Mooney, Astral Swans Residency – cSpace Eau Claire, Calgary, AB.

F is For Fem
Fem Assembly, Alberta Hotel, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Active Mythologies: Masks and Personal Narratives
Festival of Animated Objest
Calgary Animated Objects Society
cSpace King Edward, Calgary, Alberta.
March 14 - 19 2023

The Show
Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
May 2019

Special Projects

Fem Assembly: Dr.Vote’s Clinic for Referendum Readiness Calgary Arts Development: Creating Our Calgary 2.0 Calgary, Alberta, Canada
September 1 - October 19, 2026

There is always a plague / There is always a fire
Botticelli in the Fire: Front of House Installation
Downstage Theatre
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
March 4 - 14, 2026

Fem Assembly: Dr.Vote’s Cure for Not Caring
Calgary Arts Development: Creating Our Calgary
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
June 1 - October 20, 2025

Growler Artists
Cold Garden Brewery
Calgary, Alberta, Canada September 14 - December 18, 2022

Murals

Karen Clarke Mural
Foothills Track and Field
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2024

“Our Community” Mural Project
Silver Springs School
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2023

“Belonging” Mural Project
HD Cartwright Elementary
Calgary, AB.
2023

Legacy Mosaic Installation
Buchanan School
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2022

“Here We Grow” Mural Project
Chaparral School
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2022

“Bayside” Mosaic Installation
Parksville, British Columbia, Canada
2022

Legacy Installation Mural 2 & 3
Eric Harvie School
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2022

“I Fit” Mural Project
Pineridge Community Association
Calgary Alberta, Canada
2021

The Same but Different” Mural Project
Dover Community Association Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2021

Our Legacy Installation Mural 1 Eric Harvie School
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2021

Residencies

Creating Our Calgary Program, Calgary Arts Development, Calgary, Alberta
June - October 2025

Studio Residency, Stride Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
July - October 2025

RBC Emerging Artists Program, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
September - August 2023

Friends of Fem Project, Fem Assembly, Calgary, AB.
January - December 2023

Agua Viva Artist in Residency Program, Santa Rosa Art and Healing Centre, Christina Lake, BC.
July 2022

Workshops/
Mentorships

I.A.T.S.E Local 212
Stage Caucus 2 and 3 Basics workshop
2026

I.A.T.S.E, Local 212
Set Etiquette and Protocol course
2025

Photography Mentorship with Christina Krentz
2024-2025

Photolithography Mentorship with Jamie-Lee Girodat, Alberta Printmakers Society
2024

Introduction to Etching with Alison Frank, Alberta Printmakers Society
2024

The Value of Expression: Advancing your Technique, Caitlin Hepworth, Blue Mountains, AUS
2022

Global Citizenship Program, University of Calgary
2021

Raku Kiln Making with David Barnes
Eversfield Ceramics, Black Diamond, Alberta.
2021

Awards

Alberta Foundation for the Arts – Visual Arts and New Media Individual Project Grant
2026

Calgary Arts Development – Professional Development Microgrant
2025

Calgary Arts Development –
Project Grant for Individuals and Collectives
2024

Canada Council for the Arts – Explore and Create Project Grant: Research and Creation
2024

Professional Experience

Props Assistant, Vertigo Theatre, Calgary, AB
2026 - Present

Props Assistant, Calgary Opera, Calgary, AB
2026

Co-Director, Stride Art Gallery, Calgary, AB
2025 - Present

Communication and Outreach Coordinator, The New Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2025

Artist Presenter and Panellist, Calgary Arts Development Congress 2025, Calgary, AB.
2025

Mural Assistant to Andy Rubio, BUMP Roadworks Mural Artist, Beltline Urban Mural Project (BUMP) Festival, Calgary, AB.
2024

Installation Artist Mentor to Christina Krentz, Calgary, AB.
2023

Administrative Assistant, Mountain Standard Time Performative Art, Calgary, AB.
2023

Graphic Designer/Creative Director, Centre for Health Informatics Calgary, AB.
2019-2022

Last Updated 24.10.31

CURRENT PORTFOLIO

2. Clothed: Until Further Notice

Clothing, Found-objects, Printmaking, installation, video, publication

Solo Exhibition at Stride Art Gallery.

Clothed: Until Further Notice is an evolving investigation into the intimate connections between clothing, identity, and memory through the lens of non-binary gender experience. Using garments archived from my closet as primary materials, this body of work navigates the fluidity between masculinity and femininity, while foregrounding the histories and stories embedded in material culture. The work is as much about personal transformation and mourning as it is about collective participation. I invite viewers to reflect on how clothing both shapes and is shaped by our bodies, desires, and social identities.

The Clothing Archive

The Clothing Archive is a curated collection of garments from my own closet that trace my journey of gender questioning and identity formation. Each piece carries a story, not only of my own, but also of previous owners, whose histories and experiences, I believe, linger in the fabric. Tags sewn into each item include handprinted descriptions and QR codes linking to an ongoing digital archive where viewers can document new ownership and contribute to the continued lifeline of each garment.

By mapping the travels and transformations of these clothes, this project highlights the living nature of objects and their role as vessels for memory, through resilience and grieving. I invite viewers to consider how clothing mediates our relationship with our bodies and the communities around us.

The Paper Dolls

Photolithography, Copperplate Intaglio on Rice Paper and Hahne Muhle Paper

Inspired by childhood memories of playing with paper dolls, this series of hand-printed dolls features my own image, with clothing designs drawn from patterns and garments from my personal closet. The dolls encourage interactive exploration of gender expression, allowing viewers to mix and match clothing without traditional boundaries of masculinity and femininity.

Playful and provocative, this work also grapples with complex themes of objectification and body autonomy. By presenting my own body as an object of play, the dolls provoke questions about control, vulnerability, and the gaze—highlighting the tensions within non-binary embodiment and the cultural frameworks that shape it.

The Publication

The publication created as part of Clothed: Until Further Notice, extends my work with clothing and paper dolls into reflective print, treating both as archive of my lived experience. The project considers how queer bodies navigate visibility, concealment, and authenticity within social and political climates that demand exposure.

Through layered images and fragmentary text, the publication reflects on clothing as a living archive of gender and identity. Rather than functioning as documentation alone, the publication becomes an entry point into my own intimate space, holding vulnerable memories and experiences from my time creating this body of work. It inhabits the tension between being seen and being shielded, a count-archive for both preserving and self-determining visibility.