We chose the Aids monument, because we were just drawn to it. The reason were ambiguous from person to person, but personally, I felt like it was connected to me and going to get tested for HIV is a horrifying ordeal and doing it was so easy but scared me more than sexy cat costumes and bad eyebrows. The AIDs memorial was packed with emotion and I feel that is an easy place to draw art from.
This artifact represents pain. Slit throats, constricted muscles, scratched out veins, and a swarming head. I wanted to show pain in its beauty. My fingers are wrapped in bandages and you can see blood on the corset for your pleasure. The dress itself was a labor of intense pain and I literally put everything I had into this dress. I’ve been working on this for weeks and haven’t slept in three days. I pushed myself really hard and broke a couple thresholds and had new experiences beyond the ordinary which fills this dress with unique process and connected emotion for myself. Ultimately, it goes back to that room and the extreme breakdowns. It hurt back then and it hurts now but I like to find the beauty in that and thats how I survived.