PRIDE Art Catalog | ZIMETRA

SEP 2020

PRIDE

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Copyright Š 2020 ZIMETRA. All Rights Reserved.

Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited.

Please note that these artworks are published with full consent of the relevant artists and are not for sale.

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“Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts.”

– Barbara Gittings

7 COUNTRIES 20 ARTWORKS 3 PERSONAL STORIES

ALBANIA

Tea Plevneshi CANADA

Geneviève Darling INDIA Abongsudeshna

Arka Ray Chaudhuri PORTUGAL

João Vieira

Mariana Carvalhão Marques RUSSIA

Alex Schwarz

SRI LANKA

Amashi De Mel

Mahima Passela

Prabhashana Hasthidhara

Saakya Rajawasan

Tharusha Mudalige

Vasi Udurawane USA

Xsavior Pettway

ALBANIA

TEA PLEVNESHI (b.2002) “If love is a privilege, everyone should have it.”

Tea Plevneshi, 2020, Loving You, Illustration, 29cm x 29cm 7

“Love is too precious to be hidden.”

Tea Plevneshi, 2020, My Love, Illustration, 39cm x 39cm 9

CANADA

GENEVIÈVE DARLING (b.1985) “The driving topics for my practice are softness, connectedness and the reclamation of space.

I create images of tenderness that are meant to be relatable, comforting and validating while challenging heteronormative views of our society.

Elements of nature are an important part of my imagery as a reminder of our belonging in the natural world and as a reflexion of the deepest movements that inhabits us.

My work is rooted in feminist and queer values and includes images of femme folks who inspire me to be authentic through vulnerability and self empowerment.”

Geneviève Darling, 2020, Dreams, Illustration, 132cm x 132cm 11

INDIA

ABONGSUDESHNA (b.1988) “We never start judging it’s sexual orientation as soon as we see any living creature on earth.

But for human beings it’s different, right??

It has to be male or female!!

Why so?

We are humans just like other living beings and there’s nothing wrong for being the third gender.

The world does not work in binary theory... and there are so many colors than black and white!

Find out who you are.. what you are and embrace the fact.

There’s a saying, “humanity is like the fingers on a hand.

Each one is different.

But we are all connected as one”.

Abongsudeshna, 2020, Your Hand And Mine, Pen on Paper, 30cm x 46cm 13

INDIA

ARKA RAY CHAUDHURI (b.1988) “A human being must have an identity and can choose their colour of life by by their own ideology. What an individual prefer sexually or mentally, its completely the individual’s choice and that does not mean that its wrong or right. Sexual orientation or mental orientation of an individual may be differ from the major portion of the society but the person remain human with a beating heart like the entire race.”

Arka Ray Chaudhuri, 2020, Untitled, Mixed Media on Paper, 21cm x 30cm 15

PORTUGAL

JOÃO VIEIRA (b.1998) “Drag is about pride and self love”

JoĂŁo Vieira, 2020, Pride Show, Ilustration, 30cm x 40cm 17

PORTUGAL

MARIANA CARVALHÃO MARQUES (b.1996) “I wanted to pass on hope with this piece and I hope it brings joy to everyone who sees it. I hope it makes you dream and gives you the inspiration to live your life as intensely as you can, stay true to yourself and be proud of who you are, you have every reason to be. Be an amazing human being, love hard, and be happy. I also want to thank the LGBT community for everything that they have been able to do for our world.”

Mariana CarvalhĂŁo Marques, 2020, The Pride Sunset, Illustration, 42cm x 30cm 19

RUSSIA

ALEX SCHWARZ (b.1997) “In my work I wanted to convey a feeling of love ang tenderness. That there can be romance between LGBT couples, they also care about each other. In my country of Russia any LGBT relationship and everything connected with them is prohibited. After the Black Lives Matter news the issue of rasism has raised. I realized that it was nessesary to combine these two topics in my work. Love has no boundaries, gender, sex, but also nationality aren’t important.”

Alex Schwarz, 2020, Tender Love, Watercolor on Paper, 15cm x 21cm 21

SRI LANKA

AMASHI DE MEL (b.1994) “Opposing society’s conditions on love, this is an individual who can love another beyond gender and sexual orientation. Unafraid to love, a rebel of love is within the core of all beings seeking unconditional love. The individual spreads love among others by simply being true to their soul.“

Amashi de Mel, 2020, A Rebel of Love, Mixed Media on Paper, 60cm x 42cm 23

SRI LANKA

MAHIMA PASSELA (b.2001) “This is a painting to me that aligns with a lot of the status quo’s politics.

I wanted to showcase how people colour each other’s lives and give new colour to each other. It’s very much about people and our willingness to accept diversity and each other. Utilising the colours of pride, including models of diversity, that i wanted to keep relatively adrognous looking as well, I really wanted to showcase being proud of who we are irrelevant of sexuality and even colour, as we have come to know looking at today’s world what a wonderful thing diversity is.“

Mahima Passela, 2019, Colour & Us, Mixed Media on Paper, 35cm x 25cm 25

SRI LANKA

PRABHASHANA HASTHIDHARA (b.1999) “This piece was done at a point in my life where I just felt so distant from the people that were in my life the longest from old friends to family and a general depressive state of mind was haunting me, my only comfort was my friends, at least the ones who understood me, the chosen family of other queer individuals like me that were there for me without judgment. each of them contributed something different to my life. so to this day hold all of the special even if we don’t constantly see each other.”

Prabhashana Hasthidhara, 2019, A Warm Hug, Illustration 27

“To me gender and the expectations that came with these gender-based margins felt weird like some sort of invisible force that kept pulling me away from my true self. the self that was a mix of both feminine and masculine aspects where the lines would begin to blur into unlimited possibility. the inspiration for this piece was how I would visualize myself as a brown queer individual, without any bounds of gender and heteronormativity.�

Prabhashana Hasthidhara, 2019, Blurred Lines, Illustration 29

SRI LANKA

SAAKYA RAJAWASAN (b.2001) “Breaking through the 1st layer is often the hardest. However when you finally get to your true identity you feel light as a feather.“

Saakya Rajawasan, 2016, Breaking Through To My True Identity, Mixed Media on Paper, 30cm x 42cm x 46cm 31

SRI LANKA

VASI UDURAWANE (b.1995) “A political piece in honor of Breonna Taylor, originally intended to raise awareness about Black Lives Matter but also to honor the intersectionality between discourse on LGBT pride, and racial discrimination. Taylor was a black trans woman who was shot multiple times by three white male police officers and though several suspects were arrested following her murder, none of them are the correct ones. The officers who took her life are named and still free. The artwork honors the terminology of “pigs” as used on police officers, and black panthers seemed like a fitting way to shock people into perhaps keeping the discourse about Breonna Taylor going.”

Vasi Udurawane, 2020, Breonna Taylor, Pencil on Paper, 40cm x 29cm 33

“A small, sketchy tribute to “Glee” actress Naya Rivera, who passed away tragically this year after having gone missing while on a boat trip with her four-year-old son. The portrait is based on a still from the show, of her character Santana, and onscreen girlfriend Brittany sharing a moment together.”

Vasi Udurawane, 2020, Naya Riverka, Pencil on Paper, 29cm x 40cm 35

“Portrait of the amazing non-binary singer Dorian Electra, a modern-day rock star.�

Vasi Udurawane, Dorian Electra, 2020, Mixed Media on Paper, 40cm x 29cm 37

USA

XSAVIOR PETTWAY (b.1989) CLOSET TALKS IN THE DARK

What happens behind closed doors Is not for public scrutiny.

My lifestyle, my choice, not yours; It’s not some movement or mutiny.

We are different, that’s a fact; It doesn’t make me any less Black.

And if you’re not okay with that, At least let it stay in the dark.

- Xsavior Pettway

Xsavior Pettway, 2020, Love Thyself I, Illustration 39

Xsavior Pettway, 2020, Love Thyself II, Illustration 40

Xsavior Pettway, 2020, Love Thyself III, Illustration 41

Xsavior Pettway, 2020, Love Thyself IV, Illustration 42

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“Nature made a mistake which I have corrected.”

– Christine Jorgensen

PERSONAL STORIES

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SRI LANKA

PRABHASHANA HASTHIDHARA (b.1999)

To me, my sexuality has always been confusing. Coming to terms with my sexuality and the need to label it was a point in my life where I struggled the most.

I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life let alone decide what my sexuality was. Because the options as I knew them were Gay, Straight, or Bisexual, I didn’t necessarily fit either. And most people I met and had to associate with needed a clear answer to this day I cannot give one. Being queer is dismissed by many as an umbrella term but to me it just makes sense. From my gender expression to my sexuality is very much fluid.

Being queer has always held me back in many ways, I always focus on the microdetails of how peoples perceptions would change of me the more they get to know me, this is why I could never get myself to utter the words “I am queer” to my family or friends who aren’t in the LGBTQ+ community. Because I have only felt acceptance from a handful of people in my lifetime, the rest is tolerance.

Even my family is tolerant and sometimes tolerance isn’t enough to build a human connection.

I find making and keeping friendships quite hard and my sexuality and how the majority of the world perceives it has a lot to do with it. Whenever I see someone I can relate to my heart would burst of excitement.

Instantaneously I feel a connection and a bond so to them I seem like an overly friendly person. But the drawback of this is that deeply rooted trust and misjudgment issues will take over me soon as I create these friendships. Almost as if it’s forcing me to let go of these people and connections.

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SRI LANKA

THARUSHA MUDALIGE (b.1999)

I always knew I was different, that sounds cliché but it’s true. As a kindergartner I never fit in with any of the other boys and I would fight tooth and nail for the only Snow White Costume that they had in the whole montessori.

Throughout middle school I would always gravitate towards the girls and so I would rarely have any male friends. A year after moving to Sri Lanka, in 2015, I came out to myself. I never felt any sadness or anger towards myself, feeling just a sense of indifference towards my sexuality. After going to school over here and hearing the many homophobic remarks made by my classmates I decided that it would be better to keep it to myself. No one questioned my sexuality and I felt safe.

I moved schools a year later to the one I’m attending currently. I assumed that just like before, everything would run smoothly, but within the first two weeks of school, a girl sitting next next to me in class-who would later go on to be one of my best friends-turned to me and asked me if I was gay. I panicked and said no, which led to a downward spiral of me pretending to be someone that I clearly wasn’t. I had divided my personality into two completely different parts because I was so scared of being outed. I came out to a small group of friends later that year but I was still closested to everybody else.

After fully embracing my sexuality one of the hardest things to do was to uphold my true self to everybody I encountered. Coping with the stress of having a semi-conservative mom and a very conservative dad was not easy. I didn’t actually come out to them by choice but was outed by family friends who had my best interest at heart. It took lots of time and effort but eventually, my parents came around too. It was hard for me to learn to trust them after all the emotional pain they had caused me due to them not understanding where I was coming from.

I remember my mom telling me- when I was closeted-that if I was ever gay she would castrate me. This stayed with me for the longest time. It provoked an irrational fear that wouldn’t go away- so much so that If I wasn’t outed I doubt that I would have come out to them. The funny thing is she doesn’t even remember saying that.

After coming out I lost quite a few of my male “friends” which, although difficult, helped me realize who the real constants were in my life and I am so thankful for that. Growing up in a country like Sri Lanka sure isn’t easy for 49

anybody that’s a member of the Queer community. I wouldn’t change how any of it had played out because it’s allowed me to have a stronger relationship with both my parents and friends whom I love very much.

I’ve been called names and even been threatened with rape for simply being born different. Despite all that me and my fellow queers living here have had to endure, we have to learn to put it in the past.

When you grow up in an environment that is toxic and oppressive it really makes you appreciate the people that relieve those stresses. It makes it easier to find your Tribe.

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SRI LANKA

VASI UDURAWANE (b.1995)

I detest having to censor myself for anyone, be it my family, whatever institution I represent or my friends.

Sadly, closets are always a part of the journey of a queer person, no matter how long they have to stay inside and hide themselves. A possible total of twenty years was long enough, I think, to not be my natural self even though tying up my shirts in a knot or throwing on a wraparound skirt were more normal to me than letting a beard grow on my face. Raising my voice to a higher pitch and putting on a skirt or any other stereotypically feminine item of clothing or accessories always felt somewhat like second nature to me while growing up.

I never questioned it or thought any more than, “I was having fun, I was being myself ”. I did not consider the fact that I might be transgender at age 12 or 13. I hadn’t even heard of trans people back then and I was indifferent to my body. I just knew that being and feeling like a girl felt right somehow.

Yet a huge part of me forgot for many years how effortless it was to just express my femininity after having a rigid and narrow-minded ‘manliness’ enforced on me through bullying and body shaming at the very prominent boys’ school that I attended. The rampant queer phobia in my old school still baffles me considering Lionel Wendt himself, known for his stunning photos of nude Sri Lankan youths, was once a student there.

Queerness in Sri Lanka is a strange phenomenon. In my experience it is a sorry situation plagued by an absolutely missing discourse on self-acceptance and being safe, plus a lack of education and classist gatekeeping which limits said discourse. There is also a brave many daring to push things forward for the betterment of queer folks all over the spectrum.

I grew up not knowing any queer individuals who could help me figure myself and my feelings out. Instead I had begun to see gender fluidity at first in art of mythical and fantasy characters who were similarly shapeshifting, sometimes gender-fluid individuals. My indifference about my body and the ease at which I felt as a woman meant a strange draw to the artworks in question but I did not know at the time if what I felt was attraction to gender non-conforming people or simply a 53

sense of self recognition.

In hindsight, trying to be a man felt like living in a state of permanent impostor syndrome, a strange fight with myself in which I tried too hard to see myself as a man through the eyes of others. It felt like a set of ill-fitting clothes that I was forced to wear. I still don’t understand the point fate made by me being born the way I was. Given the relatively ease I have had with figuring myself out as I began to transition socially, not being born with a different body feels like a missed opportunity.

On most days I simply laugh in my relatively good humor about the situation, yet at other times I wish I had to independence to see my transition through to the end. I detest self-censorship and how long I had to stay hidden, whether it was through a belief that I had to be no more than a boy or whether it was straight cis friends telling me that it was not right to experiment with my gender.

But for now, all I can do is be as honest as I can, and be myself wherever I can, whenever I can.

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“If I wait for someone else to validate my existence, it will mean that I’m shortchanging myself.”

– Zanele Muholi

BE YOURSELF. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. 55

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