Trans artist Dylan Scholinski, who you may remember as Daphne Scholinski, author of The Last Time I Wore Dress (which I loved), has two upcoming DC art showings.

‘The Human, Abstract’
Dylan Scholinski with Tom Condon
Friday, Sept. 9, 6-9 p.m.
Wohlfarth Galleries
3418 9th St., NE
Exhibit runs through Oct. 1‘sent (2) mental’
Dylan Scholinski
Thursday, Sept. 15, 6-9 p.m.
Nevin Kelly Gallery
1517 U St., NW
Exhibit runs through Oct. 2

From washingtonblade.com (click over to view some of his pieces – they’re exquisite) :

Scholinski, now a transgendered artist, once lived as a female with parents who were concerned about his affinity for dressing in boy’s clothing and cutting classes. They sent Scholinski, then named Daphne, to a mental institution from the time he was 15 until his parents’ insurance ran out when he turned 18.

The story might sound like something from the early half of the 20th century, but Scholinski was sent to Chicago’s Michael Reese Hospital, an adolescent psychiatric treatment unit, in 1981. His diagnosis was gender identity disorder.

While there, Scholinski endured makeup lessons, forced hugs with male guards and wardrobe overhauls, all in an attempt to compel him to adhere to the female gender role. In his 1997 book about his experiences, “The Last Time I Wore A Dress,” Scholinski describes his interaction with a woman sent to teach him to apply makeup.

“Donna saw me as a challenge. My ignorance of makeup was like a secret sin. We wouldn’t mention it, we’d correct it,” he writes.

Scholinski says that unnecessary “corrections” characterized his stay at Michael Reese Hospital.

“I was being taught in every single way to hate myself,” Scholinski says. “My treatment, when I think about it — I’ve had a lot of time to think about it — was designed more to make me more comfortable for [the psychiatrists] instead of trying to make me more comfortable with myself.”

He chose art and writing as a means of telling and coping with his story.

The Last Time I Wore Dress