Absence of
a title
12”x18”
Cut paper collage
2022
Expression of gender through flora & fauna
“absence of a title” was created with the theme of invasiveness in mind. This piece is about invading my mind and body and then displaying it, displaying the absence of the binary gender world. White is all animals, and the black private areas are all flora which is a common symbol used for those areas of the body. Someone always greeted me by saying, “Hi, Butterfly!” which is shown through a butterfly/dragonfly motif. That nickname came from my frequent and abundant use of butterfly clips when I was first discovering myself. I wanted this piece to resemble images from a study or an exhibit from a history museum. I started with scanning the images, cutting them out, and inverting them. It’s white on black like an x-ray. I then worked with proximity and connectedness to form a unity. I used shape, size, very little economy, and similarity with the animals to create the body structures. I also used symmetrical balance and emphasis to solidify its effect on the viewer.