curatorial lead : Mad john

in this exhibition, i want to showcase the complex feeling of “coming out” — the moment where one says ‘i am here!’ and asserts themself as something, or preferably someone. I am typically referred to as a woman, and i am very used to the imagery of young people not unlike myself being presented as commodities for the consumption of others, like a course in someone’s meal — ready to be chewed up and shit out ungracefully. i am not alone in this, and i am certainly not the most harmed by this convention.

being oneself is tricky. people talk too much, and one’s value in a system which runs on currency and OPPORTUNITIES doled out by other human beings is determined by the willingness of those around oneself to share, promote, or otherwise support them. this creates a necessity for social action in order to gain financial wellbeing, but creates an impass between the perception of an individual from the perspective of their observers and the “true” or internally defined intentions of that individual.