Clothed: Until Further Notice

Clothed: Until Further Notice

Lexi Hilderman

October 10 – December 19, 2025

Stride Gallery is excited to announce the Main Space exhibition, Clothed Until Further Notice by Lexi (Lex) Hilderman.

Please join us for the opening reception on October 10 from 6-9pm at Stride Gallery (220-625 11 Ave SW, T2R 0E1). Light snacks and refreshments will be available!

Clothed Until Further Notice

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 thrifted garments and hand-printed paper dolls 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 — inviting viewers to reflect on how clothing both shapes and is shaped by our bodies, desires, and social identities. 

Clothing Archive

The Clothing Archive is a curated collection of thrifted garments 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 hand-printed 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 relationships with our bodies and the communities around us. 

Paper Dolls

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 in their 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. 

Lexi (Lex) Hilderman

Lexi (Lex) Hilderman is a non-binary interdisciplinary artist based in Mohkinstsis Treaty 7 Territory (Calgary, Alberta). Weaving together traditional printmaking techniques, sculpture, photography, installation, performance, and social practice, Lex’s work explores themes of identity, sentimentality, and orientation, to queer pathways forward. Their practice is deeply rooted in found objects and clothing as vessels of memory and identity, highlighting the complex relationships between material culture and personal narrative. Lex holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture with a minor in Social Practice and Community Engagement from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Calgary. They have exhibited with Fem Assembly (AB), Calgary Animated Objects Society, Arts Commons, and participated in residencies such as the Agua Viva Water Residency at Santa Rosa Art and Healing and Stride Artist Residency program. Lex has received support from the Canada Council for the Arts and Calgary Arts Development Agency.