I made this self-portrait last week. It was a spontaneous reflection on being non-binary, and as is the case sometimes, it feels like what I’m trying to say, even as I don’t quite have the words the explain the piece. Something about seeing and being seen. Feeling calm and clear + being perceived out of order. Being a mix of body and symbols. You, leaning in to see whole world, on the other side of a window, in the reflection of my eye.
It’s been a week of small news over here.
The good kind of non-dairy ice cream, which normally is so expensive, was on super sale and so I ordered 7 tubs for grocery pick up, assuming half would be out of stock as usual, and then they were all in stock. Now my freezer is very full and my inner kid feels rich.
We took Elsa out for a paddle and she loved it. After lots of looking around she nestled in for soft nap at Danielle’s feet. I felt peaceful and also sad on the water, which was, as everything is now, “historically” low and warm. The world is changing and at every reminder in my animal body arches back.
Even still, I’m getting ready for Sticker Day which will be July 27. About twice a year I release a very limited run of stickers. I get a lot of requests for stickers, and I love the idea of small art you can take with you. For a number of reasons I’m not able to stock them all the time, but it’s fun to send them out to you every once in a while. In the past they’ve sold out quickly, so if you'd like to snag some, set an alarm for Tuesday July 27 8AM Pacific!
Algorithm-Free Art
Here’s some of the work I’ve shared since my last email. I’d like to make it easier to connect away from Instagram and the social media algorithms. If you know someone who’d like to see my art outside of the feed, feel free to forward this on to them!
NON-BINARY AWARENESS WEEK
A joyful and painful thing about being non-binary is that generally people never look at us and immediately understand our gender. Sometimes it’s because they assume wrong, other times it’s because we confound their expectations (“is that person a boy or a girl?”), and always because there’s no one way to “look” non-binary. This is of course true for other genders (there’s no definitive way to look like a man or a woman either!) but this wisdom is lived out by non-binary people in a powerful way. Gender is not in the eye of the beholder and there’s always so much more or less to our genders that what can be easily seen.
To my non-binary friends and the ones who love us - happy non-binary awareness week! I’m so aware of you all and I like it 😋
“My Gender,” 2021
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Mmmmm ice cream. I have my fave non-dairy brand too. Hint: it’s rarely the almond milk version. Curious which is yours. I love your inner kid feeling rich. What a thoroughly enjoyable, celebratory feeling. Utter glee.
The pace at which the world is changing seems almost impossible. I resonate so much with your arching animal body. Those quiet sad/warm spaces are a kind of grace. Thank you for sharing that with us. I felt that so tenderly.
The self portrait is terrific. The light reflection in your eye is sublime. I appreciate your perspective on gender and being non-binary. It seems we are all creating new language for the descriptions and expressions of this subject and experience. I can’t say what I see when I look at anyone anymore because I care to see them the way they desire to be seen. That takes more than a moment to distinguish. I take pleasure in the gentle unfolding of one’s character. So all I can really trust at first glance is human. Same as I. And when there are no definitive names or labels to assign beyond that, there’s expansive beauty. Infinite beauty. I see that in your art as well. Glorious deceptively simple beauty.
I look forward to Sticker Day with eagerness. Blessings.
I’m glad you’ve been having your bits of good this week! Also, I would love to know that non-dairy ice cream brand 👀