2023

130cm x 190cm

Assorted sheer fabrics, thread.

Pulling away the curtain to live authentically is to be bold and daring; impudent and shameless.

Face the world and its challenges head on with joy - audaciously.

In spite of the many advances made in recognition of people who live outside the heteronormative orthodoxy (straight world) over the past fifty or so years, living authentically as a queer person is still a political act.

Walking out my front door, opening my mouth to speak, sharing an opinion or an artwork that might contradict or challenge ‘normality’ are bold, audacious acts. Just living my life is sometimes a challenge to other people, still.

And I’m no longer able to ask for permission or forgiveness from anyone. I don’t have the patience any more.

I look at the culture wars being fought by folks hanging on to the idea that the world operates in binaries - black and white, male and female, good and evil. If we stop to think, really think the world has never been clear cut, human animals are complicated, there are many shades of grey - there always have been.

Simply being yourself shouldn’t have to be such bold and confronting act of audacity.