Who inspires you?

I’m very inspired by the noh8 campaign. I also have friends who are artists and photographers that inspire me for this as well. Specifically, my friend who I have seen grow into such a lovely human being as he found himself. His photography inspires me to be true to myself.


Are you a minority?

Yes. LGBTQIA+


What does being a minority means to you?

I believe that it teaches us how to be more accepting and how we can relate to others, in hopes of unifying. Being in the LGBT community has always opened my eyes to acceptance. To me it had a lot to do with self recognition. I was raised in a household and environment where being a part of the LGBT+ minority was censored to the point of no discussion and told from a young age that anyone who was a part of that minority will go to hell. As I grew older and realized this wasn’t something I could just ignore. I started learning to accept myself, to not censor my feelings, to be who I am. I think that is a huge part of what being a minority means to me.


How have you represented being a minority?

Stayed true to who I am and learned to not be ashamed as well as be a positive support for my community who faces similar difficulties as I have faced.


When did you feel the most separated from the majority?

I felt most separated in high school because until I was 17 it was something I kept hidden. I felt the need to censor myself from letting others know I was in that minority because I didn’t want to be bullied, which I was sometimes anyways.


When did the majority attempt to suppress you?

In high school. Also with my family. I grew up in a country area of VA that was not LGBTQIA+ friendly at the time and came from a family who took a long time to accept me. I started to let the majority suppress me but eventually felt so upset and confused all of the time that I said fuck it and have never looked back. I feel like because of the censorship I was faced to overcome, I am even more proud of my identity today.


How does your inspiration further your art practice?

I’m inspired to create art which reflects a message of acceptance/ showing which minority you represent and the ideas/ raw reality of what it is like being in that minority as well as showing others that we are here and not going anywhere, we refuse to be censored any longer.


Do you hold any responsibility as a minority?

I feel like I hold the responsibility of showing others acceptance. This doesn’t feel like something I am required to do, but I believe that I can’t expect people to accept the minority I’m in if I expect censorship from others. I also feel a responsibility to be true to myself and not allow other minorities or majorities to censor who I am.


What are the biggest challenges you face as a minority?

Feeling that I sometimes should censor who I am to prevent disagreements or arguments with people who disagree. Not so much now as when I was younger. One challenge I had to overcome was judgement of my character based on the minority that I am in. I had to learn that it doesn’t matter what others think, and that I should still have love and acceptance for all.


Do you feel like being in a minority has inspired you as an artist?

Yes. I have created art pieces that represent the LGBTQIA+ community.


In which way do you show censorship in your work?

I create designs that usually don’t go as far as needing a censorship label etc. because I sometimes feel society expects me to. This leads me back to the inspiration of the no h8 campaign, where someone took a photo of me with tape over my mouth, in a way, that is showing censorship but the way the campaign was made it also shows us going against it.