ON BEING ASKED TO SELF-DESCRIBE:

I GREW UP AROUND TWO GRANDPARENTS WHO WERE THE EMBODIMENT OF COUNTER-CULTURAL. THEY BOTH HAD THE “NOTHING MATTERS, SO DO WHAT YOU DO AND LIVE HOW YOU LOVE” ATTITUDE. THEY TAUGHT ME HOW TO DRAW AND TELL STORIES. WHEN EVERYTHING FELL APART, I LEARNED TO FIND COMFORT IN THE OBJECTS THAT REPRESENTED THEM. OVER THE YEARS, I HAVE COME TO ATTACH SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS TO THEM. FOR A WHILE, I DENIED THAT I WAS A SENTIMENTAL PERSON; THIS WAS FOOLISH.

AS MORE HAPPENED AND MY GRANDPARENTS’ TEACHING STARTED TO SETTLE IN, I LEARNED TO QUESTION EVERYTHING, INCLUDING THE ACT OF QUESTIONING. THIS QUICKLY TRANSLATED INTO MY RELATIONSHIP WITH SENTIMENTAL OBJECTS. WE ATTACH MEANING TO THINGS IN A WORLD WITHOUT MEANING, AND THERE IS SOMETHING QUITE CURIOUS ABOUT THIS. I STARTED LOSING TRACK OF MY OWN MEMORIES AND STARTED TO NOTICE DETAILS SLIPPING. THE THINGS I HELD ONTO STARTED TO BECOME UNFAMILIAR.

 I AM USING MY ART TO TRY AND MAKE SENSE OF ALL THAT HAPPENED HERE, SIMPLY BY ACCEPTING STATES OF CHANGE, DISORDER, AND CHAOS. THE OBJECTS I CHOOSE TO WORK WITH CONNECT TO MY PERSONHOOD AND RELATIONSHIP WITH EXISTENCE AT A GIVEN MOMENT.

ON CAPITALIZATION: 

MOST OF MY WRITINGS AND WORKS ARE PRESENTED IN UNCONVENTIONAL CASING (IT BEGAN AS ALL LOWERCASE AND HAS GRADUALLY BEEN SHIFTING TO UPPERCASE, OFTENTIMES COMBINING THE TWO). THE INCONSISTENCIES IN CAPITALIZATION STARTED AS A WAY TO DENY MYSELF PERSONHOOD, BUT QUICKLY MORPHED INTO A NEW DEFINITION OF PERSONHOOD. THE PRESENTATION OF THE LETTERS IS SECONDARY TO THE MESSAGE. MY WORDS LEAVE IT UP TO THE READER TO DECIPHER WHAT IS IMPORTANT, WHAT IS WORTHY. CAPITALIZATION IS NOTHING MORE THAN ANOTHER CONVENTION AND FORM OF CATEGORIZATION. I DETEST BOTH. 

ON BEING “DIGESTABLE”:

MY ART IS NOT CREATED WITH THE INTENTION TO BE DECIPHERED. IT PARALLELS MY EXPERIENCES AS A NON-BINARY TRANSMASCULINE PERSON, AND DRAWS FROM QUEER LIBERATION AND PUNK MENTALITIES; MY IDENTITY TRANSCENDS YOUR ABILITY TO “UNDERSTAND” BECAUSE IT IS DIFFERENT. TO MAKE MYSELF UNDERSTANDABLE AT A GLANCE WOULD BE TO DILUTE MYSELF. MY ART IS WHAT IT IS, AND YOU CANNOT CHANGE THAT. TAKE IT AS IT IS AND GET COMFORTABLE WITH BEING UNCOMFORTABLE. IF MY ART MAKES YOUR SKIN CRAWL, MY GOAL WILL ONLY BE TO MAKE YOU MORE UNCOMFORTABLE; I WILL GET IN YOUR FACE, I WILL NOT BACK DOWN. THERE IS NO SPACE FOR BIGOTRY OR CLOSE-MINDEDNESS. EVERY PIECE IS A CONVERSATION WITH THE PRESENT AND WHAT WE ARE FIGHTING FOR. THERE IS A SPIRIT OF PROTEST IN EVERYTHING I CREATE.