I create work for myself, and the people I resonate with. The people who wish they could time
travel. People who didn’t have any friends in grade school besides their computer. People who
feel more like animals than people. People who sob until they vomit for no reason. People who
took “Am I Gay?” quizzes in middle school. People who still feed their Neopets and Nintendogs.
As a transgender and autistic person, I resonate with these people; I existed and continue to
exist like them. I feel the convergence of these two factors of my identity determined my future
as an artist. Perpetually isolated and misunderstood, I escape by creating a reality besides my
own, but I don’t travel too far. I intertwine the suffering of my various mental states across time
with the things that have brought me consistent joy. I gradually pull light out from the depth of a
darkly washed canvas until the battle between light from dark creates a balance of pain and
persistence. A balance of reality and escapism. A balance of past and present. Until the
culmination reflects a piece of myself–one of many facets. In this way, everything I do is a self
portrait. I make work for self expression and self fulfillment. I create work for myself, and the
people I resonate with.
