Throughout the past year I was doing more artwork and playing within different mediums and playing with mixing mediums. I started to explore textures in painting, as well as embroidery work, where I was stitching directly into the canvas.
As I had previously said, I was able to get an artist residency that would allow me to have a solo show on any subject I hoped. At this point I was already playing with multiple different materials and decided to work with those textures, finishers, and other media to create all my pieces.
I also knew that I did not want these pieces to show a linear process- as I know that my thoughts and feelings on my gender will eb and flow over time.
As an aside, this is why I choose to call myself queer. Queer, while meaning odd, was a slur in our history. Yet, over time, this word has been reclaimed and is now used as an umbrella term for those who are not heterosexual. I personally use the word Queer to describe my own personal identity. Queer within the LGBTQIA+ stands for questioning, and I don’t think I will ever stop having an ebb and flow of how I feel about my gender. The process of learning and growing never stops, and I would say the same for my thoughts regarding my own personal gender.