Sisterhood.
Emily Lucas Author
Sisterhood noun:
an association, society, or community of women linked by a common interest, religion, or trade. For my senior capstone, Sisterhood was always a key theme for my projects and how I saw my creative direction. Having documented my fashion film inspired by Solange’s 2016 song, Mad. I wanted to create a personal view of how I wanted to showcase my thesis among other like minded women to represent their interpretations of what Sisterhood meant to them. How femininity is blended thru veils in society and how everyone views their own side of what it means to be feminine. Society influences fashion and vice versa,inspiring inviduality in how we represent ourselves and how we find beauty in our differences.
You Got the light
count it all joy
You Got the right
You got the right to be Mad.
I ran into this Girl
Why you always blaming?
Why you can’t just face it?
I got Alot to be Mad about
Where did your love go?
I’m tired of explaining
Man, this shit is draining
I’m not feeling allowed to be Mad.
Moulting Robin Maaya
I have known I was a lesbian since I was in kindergarten, but I have never quite processed all that led to my realization - and what came after. I have never directly told my family; although I am sure many of them have their assumptions. This project started out with the intention of creating a body of work to come out to my Mom, but I soon realized it wasn’t about her accepting me - it is about me accepting myself. I have never been against being a part of the LGBTQ+ family, but I also never embraced it below the surface level. In the early stages of creating this series, I was writing multiple pieces about memories from my childhood that correlate to my story of coming out. In that process, I began to remember traumatic events in my life that I had forgotten about due to years of pushing the memories away. It became very obvious to me that the photographs I was initially taking were not depicting my story with the intensity that my words were. Once I started tapping into deeper feelings and trauma, I was able to finally visualize through a photograph being in a state of pain due to the process of acceptance of oneself. The photographs in this series represent the three steps I have taken on a path to becoming who I am. Remembrance, Acceptance, and Resilience are three words I continue to associate with this work as it has taken years to get through each of these phases. Through the remembering of significant moments in my childhood, I am finally able to accept that I am who I am because of everything that happened to me -good or bad. Through the process of accepting who I am, I have become resilient to change and have entered a new phase in my life where I am outwardly becoming a part of a different kind of sisterhood. Through my newly acquired resilience, I am finally comfortable with the idea of shedding old fears in order to make room for a new growth.
www.robinmaaya.com
We grow together We get stronger together Ariana Bennardo
In this piece, I painted two severed hands to symbolize the friendship between two broken women. Together, the hands lay on a ring of gold, a visual representation of the pairs bond together; this is against a black background, to allude to the darkness of the world and the unknown. In the composition, hovering above the hands is a Jericho Rose, Anastatica, or “Resurrection Plant�. The Jericho Rose is a variation of tumbleweed, and hibernates by shrivelling up and appearing dead. The seeds inside are strong, and can remain dormant for years, waiting until the perfect moment to grow. When the dried plant obtains moisture, it comes to like, leaves flowing with water, unfurling from brown to green tendrils. Much like in people’s lives, a situation can seem dire or hopeless on the outside, but inside hides hope and healing-with a sister by your side, together you can heal and grow.
www.lostinthewoods.ink
True Sisters Kenya Andrew
Sisterhood means I always have someone to lean on, someone to act as a mirror for my own life. The sister I got to choose, the one that found me again in this life, is a blessing because no matter what I do, who I am, or where I end up, I will have the support of a strong Black woman in my corner. As far as I’m concerned, that is a gift that can only be delivered straight from the heavens. Lyric is my sister because I’ve never met someone who embodies the definition of sisterhood so perfectly, so effortlessly, so thoroughly, so deeply. She is my sister because she has loved me at every stage in my growth process and made me know that I deserved her love even when I didn’t quite love myself - even when I didn’t deem myself worthy of it. She is my sister because she never left me. She is my sister because I believe we didn’t have a choice. She is my sister and it is my honor to be hers.
What Sisterhood Means to Me Lyric Arianne
Sisterhood is powerful. You love the women who share the same values as you. Who loves and trusts you, without judgment. A sister is a protector. A sister is what I have found in Kenya, my best friend, my second family. We share, we accept, and we heal from one another. Someone who I can call when I’m feeling down, and express my feelings without any filter. We are sisterhood. Sisterhood is us. Simple, yet so powerful.
I Cry for Girls Girlrillas Morgan Ricard
I Cry for Girls: During my freshman year of college, two of my close friends were sexually assaulted over a single weekend. This experience, and others like it, characterized my student years. Simple things like walking to the grocery store or going to parties suddenly felt like big risks. In the beginning, all I could do was hold my friends close and cry with them. This pain formed me into an active feminist, now crying out in rage instead of fear. I made both of the pieces featured in this zine in 2015 as a freshman. GIRLRILLAS: I found strength in looking at the feminists who came before me, those who reshaped the world to better fit within it, to create room for their sisters, for my sisters, for me.
Special Thank You
Contributors Robin Maaya Ariana Bennardo Morgan Ricard Lyric Arianne Kenya Andrew
Issue. 1