The Whole Preposterous Ideology
Leni Mae Wiegand
June 6-July 18, 2025
Opening Reception: June 6, 6-9pm
Free and open to the public
Aurora PhotoCenter, Efroymson Gallery
1125 Brookside Avenue, Suite C9, Indianapolis
This beautiful, layered, multi-media work by artist Leni Mae Wiegand uses photographic light boxes, paper scrolls, and electronics-based sculpture to evoke the digital realm as a safe space for exploration of gender and personal identity. Wiegand writes of their work:
“Queer bodies, particularly trans bodies, are often labeled as something to be "fixed" — entities in a state of error, a glitch. However, glitches aren't inherently negative; they possess power against systems expecting certain outcomes and strength in defying those systems. By embodying ourselves through digital existence and the safety that digital spaces provide, we can resist growing transphobia in the United States and transcend laws seeking to strip away our rights.
By embracing the label of glitch, we create digital havens — vital places for exploring gender expression and personal identity without fear of punishment. Through the safety they provide, digital realities often become more important and vibrant than our AFK (away from keyboard) existence.
Each screen represents a view into the digital space, like the many screens people use daily to explore digital realms. The ever-moving, ever-glitching self-portraits show how gender in the digital realm can be ever-mutable. It exists in constant flux, allowing for continuous exploration of self. This fluid sense of self isn't unique to trans people; it's something everyone experiences online. There's no way of knowing how someone exists differently in their digital space compared to their AFK world. Together, we embody multitudes.”
— Leni Mae Wiegand
In conjunction with the exhibition, The Whole Preposterous Ideology, Wiegand will lead the workshop Databending on June 29, 1-4pm. In this workshop, participants will shift away from the technical protection that we so often seek in photography and push our images beyond the normal bounds of editing utilizing Databending. In Databending, instead of editing the pixels of the images, you edit the code that makes it up, remixing and mashing it together in new ways creating entirely unique compositions. For more information and to register for the workshop, click here.
Leni Wiegand is a transfeminine lens-based artist. She received her MFA in Photography from IU in 2025 and her BA in Business Management from Benedictine University in 2022 along with their AAS in Photography from the College of DuPage in 2020.
Annual operating support for Aurora PhotoCenter provided by the City of Indianapolis through the Indy Arts Council. Additional annual support provided by the Efroymson Family Fund, Joy of Giving Something Foundation, Inc., Aurora Members, and donors who believe in Aurora’s mission.