Agency, Autonomy, Power.

As years have past my work has become more controversial. My work doesn't typically reach conservative types. Why is that, you ask? Because I am not conservative. I grew up in a narcissistic, misogynist, and conservative family. Conservatism isn't always a good thing. When I was young I was made to go to a conservative fundamentalist Christian school. I stood out like a red thumb and I fought back against their extremist views. I was so outspoken that I got kicked out of one of my classes just for disagreeing with a teacher.

I would constantly create acts of defiance. I would wear couloured hair extensions, keep my nose piercing in, I created a photographic artwork of my bare back covered in feminist statements, coloured my hair purple (which I almost got expelled for) and put a picture of a proud woman with exposed breasts and buttocks, sitting on a motorbike, on the teachers files. I even stood up to my maths teacher when I thought he was being sexist to one of his students.

For most of my life I have been told who to be and how to run my life but as an act of defiance I would be myself, write how I really felt in a journal and eventually started using my art practise as a platform for my rebellious voice. As I made necessary changes to my life and the company I kept my work became more nuanced as a form of activism, empowerment, and healing. My striking aesthetic speaks to the power art can have in terms of change and gaining autonomy over oneself and their life. My practise is both personal, political and loud. The challenging aesthetic is necessary to evoke strong discussion. When art leads to a conversation, that's when it has done its job. It might not directly lead to change but it's a step in the right direction.