Somerville Artist Dorian Keeffe Explores Gender-Affirming Care in “Resurrection”

"Resurrection" by Dorian Keeffe. Oil on Canvas.

When Dorian Keeffe awoke from top surgery, he felt he was not simply recovering—he was resurrecting. In the sterile light of a Boston operating room, a physical transformation had begun, one that Keeffe, a Somerville-based artist, would later turn into a work of intimate, defiant beauty. His triptych, titled “Resurrection,” fuses medical photography with religious iconography to depict not just the physical act of surgery, but the spiritual and emotional rebirth of his transition—a tender reclamation of body, self, and sacredness in a time when trans lives are under attack.

In Tarot reading, which is a source of artistic inspiration for Keeffe, death is not an ending but a transformation. It is a nod to the cyclical nature of life, which includes death and rebirth. When leaves die in autumn and their bodies fall to the earth, they provide nutrients for flowers that grow in the spring: a resurrection. 

The first panel of Keeffe's "Resurrection" shows his chest open on the operating table.

No other term was more apt for Keeffe as he processed his recovery from top-surgery, the colloquial name for chest masculinization surgery in the transgender community. The procedure typically involves a surgeon creating two incisions in a patient’s chest to remove unwanted breast tissue, then reconstructing the area to achieve a more affirming appearance.

“I knew this surgery would be a major transformative moment of my life and I felt a strong urge to process that artistically,” said Keeffe.

“Resurrection” is a series of three works of oil on canvas. The triptych narrates the surgical process, beginning with the initial incision, and concluding with the threads of stitches bringing together a new flesh. Blending real photographs of the surgery and surreal elements of religious and tattoo iconography, Keeffe explores the euphoria and rebirth of his transition that serve as a reminder of trans joy in a politically tumultuous time. 

Keeffe arranged for his surgeon to take pictures of the surgical process. In a stroke of good luck Dr. Jaromir Slama, Keeffe’s surgeon at the Boston Medical Center is also a talented photographer. After the surgery, the hospital delivered the photos to Keeffe in a binder. He steeled himself to flip it open. “I wasn’t expecting to look at these pictures and feel loved and cared for,” he said. “There was such a beauty and gentleness about them that caught me off guard.” 

The second panel of Keeffe's artwork depicts the many sets of hands that helped care for his body while his chest was being reconstructed.

Though Keeffe was not sure how he would react to seeing himself quite literally opened up and vulnerable, he did not even wait to fully recover before he started on “Resurrection.” He began to sketch and plan the artwork with his surgical drains still in.  

“I even stretched the canvas before my surgery, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it in recovery. I couldn’t wait to begin,” he recalled. 

In today’s political climate, top surgery and other gender affirming procedures have been placed in the spotlight as right-wing anti-trans political groups criticize its necessity and even validity as healthcare. These groups have used extreme rhetoric to frame transgender health services as unsafe and immoral. In January 2025, President Trump issued an order aimed at dismantling gender-affirming healthcare for minors. In it, the administration describes procedures, including the use of puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and gender-affirming surgeries as “dangerous,” “mutilation,” and a “horrifying tragedy.” 

Keeffe aims to paint a different picture. “I hope that people look at these paintings, and they see the beauty of the process,” he said. “It’s not mutilation, it’s an expression of love” When he looked at the photographs from his surgery, he was struck by one element in particular. “I see the nurses hands in the pictures—a motif I included in the paintings as well—and I feel that my body was deeply cared for by a group of strangers who understand my community. It was beautiful.” 

In the final panel of Keeffe's work, the surgery is nearly complete. Stitches pull his chest back together in its new form and he prepares for "resurrection."

Keeffe confronts these anti-trans groups by co-opting the religious iconography they use to enforce hate, to tell a different story: one of self-acceptance and positivity.

“I grew up catholic, and this has often shaped my own self-perception and my relationship to my community,” said Keefe.” I wanted to explore how the Bible is used to shame people who want gender-affirming care, as if they are defiling God’s temple. I decided to do an inversion of Jesus’ resurrection to affirm a parallel in my transition in a positive and constructive way.” 

With Easter soon approaching, a Christian holiday honoring the resurrection of Jesus Christ after the crucifixion, Keeffe marvels at his new appearance, “It’s the first time in my life that I’ve looked at myself in the mirror and felt love for my body.”