7. Well-Trodden — Living Archive

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

Calgary Arts Development – Professional Development Microgrant
2026

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

WORKS

6. The Well-trodden Path (2021)

Photographic campaign and research project
Calgary, Alberta

In Fashion and the Well-Trodden Path (2021), Hilderman explores the ways in which the fashion industry employs the normalization of the gender binary and how the images used in its advertising continue to reinforce the compulsivity of heteronormative spaces in society. Through a ten-part photo series, they bring forward a discussion of the gendered expectations and values enforced upon both male- and female-presenting bodies. They highlight that it is not until we "fail" to maintain this binary or deviate from this "well-trodden path" that we break through and bring the binary into question. Hilderman's work brings forward a questioning of the heteronormative system in society and a neutralization of its dichotomy in gender through a blurring of the lines between the so-called "opposing" entities. Their work suggests a new orientation, that of gender along a spectrum, and how this can be represented within the fashion industry.

Using the models of both Erving Goffman (1985) and Mee-Eun Kang (1997) these standardized scripts were analyzed through 2021 fashion campaigns.

Link here